Pedri refused to believe Lionel Messi's Barcelona exit was true - with Spain international revealing what it is like to play alongside Argentine GOAT

Eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi severed career-long ties with the Blaugrana when reaching the end of a lucrative contract in Catalunya. It emerged that La Liga's giants did not have the finances required to put fresh terms in place.

An emotional goodbye was bid by Barcelona’s all-time leading goalscorer, with tears flowing before a move to Paris Saint-Germain was completed. It was only when Messi made his way to France that a switch nobody could have predicted became real to those that the Argentine icon was leaving behind.

Pedri was just 12 months into his Barca career when Messi moved on, with the Spain international telling France Football of how he initially refused to accept that the rumours of an impending departure were true: "It was a shock when Leo Messi left. I was playing in the Olympics, and I found it hard to believe."

Pedri did, however, get to experience life alongside the all-time great and quickly learned that it was always best to nudge the ball in that direction. He added on working with the GOAT: "I always passed the ball to Messi. Clearly, he was better than me. He was incredible in training; we were lucky to see him."

Messi is now in the United States with MLS outfit Inter Miami, where a contract extension is being mooted. It has been suggested that he could return to Barcelona for one more outing when an exhibition match is staged for the grand reopening of Camp Nou following a €1.5 billion (£1.3bn/$1.7bn) renovation project.