Barcelona coaching guru Laureano Ruiz admits he's excited about Xavi's current team.

Ruiz is regarded as among the best coaches seen at La Masia.

The 85 year-old told Sport: "It seems to me that Barça has a group of young people of a splendid level. Barça is building a team with an extraordinary future. I love Pedri, Gavi seems like a fabulous player to me, Balde is also excellent and the climbers like Lamine Yamal and Fermín are showing great qualities.

"Lamine excites me and I think Fermín is going to be a fantastic player. And with all this, we cannot forget other more established players like Araujo who are still young and with a good present and a spectacular future.

"It's just that years ago I was invited to give a talk at UD Las Palmas. Its grassroots football director, Tonono, is a friend of mine and before Pedri exploded I already told him that he was going to be a crack. Pedri is a great soccer player."