Cesc Fabregas wants a happy ending for Lionel Messi at Barcelona, but says his friend needs time to consider his "very personal decision" of whether to stay or leave Camp Nou.
Messi is expected to remain at Barca, but with less than a month remaining on his current contract there is speculation that he could soon end up moving to Manchester City or PSG.
Fabregas, who is close friends with Messi having grown up with him at Barcelona's academy, believes his former club are on the right path to convincing the legendary player to remain.
What did he say?
"I don’t know what Leo will do but I hope he stays at the club," Fabregas told Goal. "It is a very personal decision and let’s see how he feels and we will see what happens. I would like to watch him play his football at Barca for many more years and be successful because he deserves it for what he has done at the club.
"I am very happy that Joan Laporta is the president. He is someone with a lot of personality. He is calm, he knows what he is doing and he has experience. I am very positive that he will bring the club back to where it belongs."
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Fabregas on Hazard
Another player Fabregas is close to is Eden Hzard, who has endured mixed fortunes at Real Madrid amid battles for form and fitness.
"He knows what I think because I spoke recently and I told him what I feel," Fabregas said. "He knows that he has been very, very unlucky. As I player, I think I was with him for five years and he was never injured, maybe only twice and mostly just small things.
"For me to see that, it is shocking because you could never expect someone so strong, who you had seen fighting day in day out, playing every three days and not getting injured go to one of the best clubs in the world which was his dream to try and reach another level, and now this happens.
"Of course it makes me sad because I always said Eden had the potential to be whatever he wanted to be.
"He could win Champions Leagues, Ballon d’Ors and talent-wise, he is up there with the best. It is sad to see it but I still think if the little things going against him go the other way, then we will see the Eden we all know and love."
Hazard has also been under attack from Spanish media after being seen laughing with Chelsea's Kurt Zouma following Real Madrid's elimination from the Champions League. Yet, Fabregas believes the Belgian can handle the situation.
Fabregas said: "It is part of life when you are playing for one of the best clubs in the world. It happened to me in Barcelona as well for the good and the bad. I played 12 years there and when you win, it is the very best and when you lose you take it.
"It is part of the job, the football industry and you have to swallow it and keep strong. In the beginning, when I was younger, it used to affect me a little bit but then I realised quickly that if they criticise Diego Maradona, Jose Mourinho, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi then why would I not get criticised?
"Even if it is just one bad game, you start to understand that it is nothing personal. It is just the polemic or spice that brings people to criticise someone when they are doing well. You just have to take it positively and use it as a drive to be better."
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