- Kees Smit has been compared to Kevin De Bruyne and dubbed the ‘Dutch Pedri’.
- In comments made to Supergraande this week, he flirted with FC Barcelona and indicated it is the club of his dreams.
- While Smit’s supposed €25 million price tag at AZ Alkmaar is affordable, Hansi Flick perhaps doesn’t need the talented 20-year-old.
Smit didn’t hide his feelings for FC Barcelona, and longs to play in Spain
One of the most talked up emerging talents in Dutch football, Kees Smit has drawn comparisons to Belgian wizard Kevin De Bruyne and hasn’t been called the ‘Dutch Pedri’ for nothing.
This week, in comments made to Supergraande, he flirted with the club of his dreams by claiming to have enjoyed FC Barcelona matches since he was young.
“I really liked watching Barça, I grew up watching [Andres] Iniesta or [Lionel] Messi play, who I have as two references,” Smit said.
Then asked where he sees himself plying his trade abroad after leaving AZ Alkmaar, Smit didn’t hesitate.
“La Liga,” he clearly answered. “Playing there would be great. I love the sun, I’m tired of playing in so much cold and rain, so I’d like to go and play in Spain.”
“I watch all the Barcelona games. It’s just my preferred club. I love watching Pedri and Frenkie de Jong. I understand that people found them rather strange comparisons. Before I was De Bruyne and now I’m Pedri, or Frenkie de Jong,” Smit also confessed.
An FC Barcelona legend has also seen Pedri in Smit
Comparisons to Pedri are not lazy thinking, and have come from credible sources. After calling him up to first team training in 2020, following his bargain €5 million move from Las Palmas, FC Barcelona legend and then head coach Ronald Koeman was the key figure that identified promise in the the modern-day Blaugrana number 8.
“I was the first Barça coach to meet Pedri. I didn’t know who he was,” Koeman recalled to ESPN earlier this month.
“Barça had signed him from Las Palmas and the club wanted to send him out on loan. That was the plan. But after just two days of training, I saw an absolutely incredible player in every aspect. I noticed Lionel Messi constantly trying to build a connection with him.
“Messi would only pass the ball to Pedri. And believe me, if Messi doesn’t rate you, he simply won’t pass you the ball in training; he’ll just ignore you.
“I saw a connection developing. For me, that was the final confirmation that I had made the right decision keeping Pedri at Barça,” Koeman added.
As the Netherlands head coach prepares for the World Cup, the scorer of the winning goal that brought Barça their first Champions League title in 1992 against Sampdoria at Wembley has taken a punt on Smit.
Though Smit clearly has something, perhaps giving him his first senior international cap was a move from Koeman inspired by the similarities he’s recognised while using his sharp eye for youth talent.
“I have to be careful with what I say, but I coached Pedri at Barcelona and I see things from him in Kees Smit,” Koeman explained in November. “The turns, the use of both feet, the vision of the game… that’s what I saw in Pedri back then. What he is showing at such a young age is impressive.”
Koeman then concluded by saying that if Smit “achieves half of what Pedri has achieved in his career, everyone in Holland will be happy.”
Pedri could indirectly block Smit’s potential FC Barcelona move
Ironically, though, it is the Canary Islands native that could stand in Smit’s way of making his dreams a reality at the Spotify Camp Nou – though SPORT’s Sergi Capdevila does report that Barça “likes his profile”.
As if often the case at this particular club, the midfield is stockpiled with the likes of the two players Smit has been compared to in Pedri and compatriot De Jong, plus Marc Bernal and a returning Gavi.
At present, 18-year-old Bernal is a Flick favourite and a Catalan “from the house” as they say, or rather La Masia. He boasts what Smit does – press-resistance and line-breaking passing – in abundance, already understands the German’s system, and has also began to score goals as seen with an impressive Copa del Rey semifinal brace against Atletico Madrid.
Some reports, such as the mentioned SPORT one, say that Smit could walk for as little as €25 million. Yet others go as high as €60 million, and in being represented by Jorge Mendes, the prodigy is likely to cost far more than that in the long-run.
Above all, there’s no justification for shelling out such fees to try and fit Smit in at the Joan Gamper CT, during a period when there are salary cap issues and a desire to return to the 1:1 rule.
Of La Liga’s two biggest clubs, Real Madrid seems a more likely destination for a youngster that could have a break out World Cup in North America this summer.
