'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAFAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFgABAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQF/8QAFQEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAX/2gAMAwEAAhADEAAAAKtkBY//xAAeEAADAQACAgMAAAAAAAAAAAABAgQDAAUGQlGCkf/aAAgBAQABPwCu/sk6XzLTarF9Iq83zZJkT2UH9VgPryqUz07Yq6lc3KAlPg8//8QAGhEAAgIDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQMABBEh8f/aAAgBAgEBPwC9aajazjgn/8QAGBEAAgMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAgMAASH/2gAIAQMBAT8AQoG4dT//2Q=='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Barcelona midfielder Pedri has hailed club legend Lionel Messi as the best player to have graced the beautiful game.
The 21-year-old is one of the best young midfielders of his generation and is a key first-team player at the club. He has 17 goals and nine assists in 120 games across competitions since his first-team debut in the 2020-21 season.
That was also the only season Pedri played with Messi - the greatest player in Barca history - before the Argentinian joined PSG on a free transfer in the summer of 2021.
Recounting his experiences of playing with Messi at the Camp Nou, Pedri recently said that the Argentinian was the first person he saw in the dressing room.
"When I arrived at Barca, the first person I saw in the dressing room was Messi, said Pedri (as per Barca Universal). "He had that aura."
The midfielder continued that he used to be star-struck watching Messi in training, calling him the best player ever:
"Messi is the best player in history. I used to watch him training and say, 'What am I doing here with him'. And I would stare at him all the time."
Pedri is off to a decent start to the season for Barca, bagging a goal and an assist in 11 games across competitions.
How did Lionel Messi fare with Barcelona?
Lionel Messi is inarguably the greatest player to don the Barcelona jersey. Since debuting for the senior team in 2004, Messi bagged record tallies of 672 goals and 303 assists in 778 games across competitions for the club.
He was an epitome of consistency and brilliance during his near two-decade-long stint at the Camp Nou. Unsurprisingly, he won a plethora of individual and collective honours with the club.
Messi won a record six Ballon d'Or awards - itself a standalone record - at Barcelona, with his other two coming while playing for PSG and his current club Inter Miami respectively.
The Argentinian won a record 10 La Liga and four UEFA Champions League titles, two as part of continental trebles, among others, sealing his name indelibly in the annals of club history.
