FORMER Barcelona player Juan Carlos Heredia believes Lionel Messi has never been the same player since Xavi and Iniesta left the club.
The Catalan giants had one of football’s greatest ever teams when the two Spaniards were marshalling the midfield.
Barcelona were unstoppable with Messi, Xavi and IniestaCredit: Reuters
Between them, they won 17 league titles and eight Champions League winners medals.
Barcelona were arguably at their peak in the 2008/09 campaign when they won a historic treble.
Xavi left the Nou Camp after 17 years in 2015 when he joined Al Sadd while Iniesta moved to Japan with Vissel Kobe in 2018.
And Heredia believes their departures have impacted six-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi’s performances on the pitch.
Reported by Marca, he told Super Deportivo Radio: “Messi was never the same again after they took Xavi and Iniesta from his side, I don’t see him play with that same dynamic anymore.
“Messi today has to set up a game on his own, he has to score goals and take free kicks, that’s a lot.
“He carries the responsibility of a great European club all on his shoulders, if Messi isn’t there then Barcelona can’t play.”
Messi has been linked with a sensational switch away from the Nou Camp following the club’s humiliating 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich.
With just a year left on his contract, the mini maestro is reportedly looking for a new club this summer with serious Champions League ambitions.
But Heredia believes there is little chance Messi will leave his boyhood club with Man City and Inter Milan interested.
He added: “I don’t think there is anywhere you can be more comfortable than the place you’ve been since the age of 13.
“If Messi stays then we need to see the best version of Messi.
“The board are going to have to spend a lot of money to do that, Barcelona need to do what Messi demands.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
