Lionel Messi news: Mourinho believes only the word 'genius' can describe Messi, asks how Barcelona will cope on his departure

What's the story?

Former Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has given his thoughts on the evolution of Barcelona captain Lionel Messi while pondering on the effect that the Argentine's departure will have on the Catalan giants.

In case you didn't know...

Mourinho is no stranger to the technical and creative abilities of Messi, having faced the mercurial Argentine innumerable times in the course of his career.

The 55-year-old has encountered Messi in almost all his managerial spells, with FC Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan, and Real Madrid all having faced Barcelona at some point.

Messi, who enjoyed fine form this season, was recently at the centre of criticism for his inability to inspire Barcelona to European glory.

The Blaugrana crashed out of the Champions League after squandering their three-goal lead to Liverpool in the semi-final round of the competition.

The 31-year-old did, however, manage to win another La Liga title for the club while scoring 48 goals in all competitions in the process.

The heart of the matter

Mourinho considers himself lucky to have witnessed Messi's evolution over the years, citing the times he's faced the Barcelona star with different clubs.

Speaking on beIN Sports, he said, "What I can analyse is what I see, and what I see is a player that, during his career, went through a process and that process was always based on according to his qualities, how can he give the most to the team."

"I was very fortunate because I was, let's say, 'close' in all his career. In fact, the first match that he played for FC Barcelona was a Porto-Barcelona in the opening of Porto's new stadium."

"I played against him when I was in Chelsea, I played against him when I was at Inter and then I (went to) Madrid and I (was) in Madrid for three years so I played against him many times when he was coached by different managers in different positions on the pitch, and the only thing I can say is that progressively he was always better and better."

The former United boss believes the only word that could aptly describe Messi is "genius". "For me, 'genius' I think is the word you choose and I think the word is correct. Genius. (Messi puts in) lots of work. I don't listen, you don't read many things about Messi wrongdoing in his personal and social life. So it looks like he's got everything together."

Mourinho concluded, "But you know, no more words about this, guys. Genius is the word for me and for me a question that (I posed the other day) is the question that I going to keep for a (while)."

"Which Barcelona are we going to have when Messi decides to go home? That's for me the big question. What next. That's for me the big question."