Barcelona legend Xavi penned a touching open letter to former team-mate Lionel Messi after the Argentine’s Ballon d’Or win on Monday.
Taking to the gala in Zurich, the 28-year-old Argentine beat fellow finalists Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar to win the award for a record fifth time in eight years, with Ronaldo’s tally of three being the closest.
After Leo’s triumph, the former Blaugrana captain, who now plies his trade in Qatar with Al Sadd after leaving Camp Nou at the end of last season, praised La Pulga, hailing his as “the best” whilst also opening the lid on his thoughts on Messi when he was a kid.
Writing for El Pais, as per Goal, the 35-year-old Spanish midfield maestro said:
"You could tell he was different. Leo, above all, had a talent that is the hardest to achieve: he understood the game. He could pass well and he could dribble around anyone you put in front of him: he used to leave the best defender we had on the ground.
"A while after he came to the first team we shared a trip and I discovered an educated boy, who was respectful, humble and not conceited at all.
"And that makes him exemplary, because being what he is now, being the best, he hasn't lost those values, he hasn't lost a bit of that humility and he respects his team-mates. I think Leo never wanted to be different from the others."
"He was different, but he was only 16 years old, so I thought he'd be good, but I knew that football is very complicated, that a lot of things interfere, I never imagined he'd be the best player in history," Xavi added.
"Ever since I've known him he hasn't stopped evolving. He improved what he had and he has also turned himself into a goalscorer.
"He didn't use to score so much and now he scores everything, he takes free kicks. And, like Pep [Guardiola] says, he dominates every aspect of the game.
"We'll never see something similar. Not only because of what he can do, but because of the time that he's been doing it for.
"Others have lasted two years, three; he seems to have no end in sight."
