GERARD PIQUE knows all about Steven Fletcher having played against him in the Under-19 European Championships final two years ago.
And he believes the striker, who has been linked with a move to Spanish champions Real Madrid, has got what it takes to go all the way to La Liga.
However, Barcelona's new signing believes there has been too much pressure put on the 21-year-old at
too young an age and reckons that Fletcher still has some learning to do before he's ready for a move like that.
Pique made his Barca debut on Thursday night following his £7million move from Manchester United, the only player in the Catalan side's line-up to last the 90 minutes in the Murrayfield friendly. He reckons Fletcher has all the attributes to be a hit in Spain or England – as long as he is given enough time to develop.
He said: "I met him when I was playing in the Under-19 final when Scotland played Spain a couple of years ago in Poland.
"He is a very good player. I heard something about Madrid watching him but he is still only 21 years old and people should not put so much pressure on him.
"He is just a young boy and if he eventually moves to Madrid I am sure that he will learn a lot. But I also think that he can still learn a lot with Hibs.
"I think he can definitely make the step up. I think that he has to play more games here, learn more and then he can play in La Liga.
"He has got all of the attributes to make it at the top level. Now what he has to do is to build up his body, his strength and his movement.
"I think a player never stops learning and Fletcher is an example of that. If he continues to play a lot of games and play well then he can move to La Liga or even to the Premier League."
Pique was delighted to get his Barca career off to such a flying start and he continued: "It was a great debut for me personally, and also for the team as well, because it was a good performance.
"At this stage of the season obviously the results are not the important thing but it was still very pleasing to be able to go out and win by six goals.
"It was a comfortable win for us and we played really well over the 90 minutes. In the last 15 minutes it was difficult physically. I started to feel a little bit tired, but I think that is only natural when you are in pre-season games."
Hibs defender Paul Hanlon was given a torrid evening against Lionel Messi and the youngster, whilst being pleased with his contribution, admitted that the match had been something of an education.
Messi is up there with the best in the world and Hanlon said: "It was an education to be up against players like Messi, it was a great experience. The first half was quite difficult, although I thought I did okay, but obviously they got a few goals and nothing really seemed to go our way. They make so much room for themselves and so much time on the ball.
"We lost a few goals but it was more down to them keeping the ball well and producing some great finishes than anything else.
"Sometimes you think that Messi doesn't look interested but the next minute he will switch on, get the ball and bang it into the back of the net. There are not many better players in the world than Lionel Messi, so I've just got to take as much out of it as I possibly can."
The full article contains 642 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
