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Pep and Messi. What they both think of each other

Pep Guardiola and Lionel Messi

Within the next ten days or so it seems likely that the Barcelona board will finally put a renewal offer on the table for Leo Messi.

Barcelona would be wise not to leave it too much longer, because there is a small but extremely select group of clubs, and people, more than keen to turn Snr Messi’s head, not least Manchester City who are led by Pep Guardiola the man that helped shape the player that many believe is greatest ever to lace up a pair of football boots. Pep thinks he will stay at Barcelona but the City bosses will explore any possibility of bringing the Flea to Manchester if there was any at all.

And whether or not he decides to pledge his future with Barcelona, which, incidentally I believe he will, there is no doubt there is no one in football that either knows or admires Messi more than his former boss at the Camp Nou.

And the respect is mutual, as is the desire to be the very best.

As recently as 2013 in an interview with TyC Sports that I cite in my biography of the player he says, “..the man from whom I learned the most was Guardiola. Not only because he knew so much, but because he took me under his wing during a stage when I was developing, the stage at which I grew and learned the most.”

And in an interview with El Pais in 2012 he said, “Pep showed us the way and we are still going. He made us play with initiative, to always go for goal. He gave us the right attitude, the conviction that we were going to win, He was spectacular , beyond what he knows as a coach.”

“The way he analysed matches, how he prepared for them…I don’t think there will ever be another coach like him”

During my research for my book I travelled to meet Pep in Munich; a man notoriously uncomfortable about giving one to one interviews and a person will only ever make himself available for the media commitments he is contractually obliged to give.

He was, however, more than willing to spend hours just talking about the player who he feels is not just the greatest player in the world but also the greatest in the history of the game.

“Sometimes we forget he carries the weight of being the best player in the world, of all time, that he has a whole country behind him and a club that hopes he can win them games,” he told me.

“And this on a daily basis. I always think that he is the best in history for that reason, for the continuity of things that he has done.”

He added, “Bear in mind that this bloke has the ability in this day and age to score 50, 60 goals and appear in every game, every day. It’s very difficult for a youngster to be able to do this over such a long period of time.”

More than just the titles he has won, no one will change my opinion of him, whether he wins a World Cup or not.“

Fundamental to the success of their partnership was Guardiola’s understanding of the complexities of the outrageously talented Leo.

The nub of his reasoning was simple: understand his moods and his silences because he will come around in his own time , never, ever substitute him, give him the ball and he will do the rest.

Will they ever renew the partnership that brought so much success to the Camp Nou? Who knows?

But perhaps despite all the praise, all the plaudits from probably the greatest players in the history of the game, perhaps the most important things Pep has ever said about Messi and that encapsulate his thoughts on the mercurial genius from Rosarios in just 12 words are as follows: "Don’t write about him, don’t try to describe him. Just watch him.”