Pep Guardiola knows a thing or two about FC Barcelona, he played for the club from 1990-2001 and then led the team in their most important run in history from 2008- 2012. Pep Guardiola’s FC Barcelona team is considered by many to be the greatest soccer team ever assembled.
As a manager Pep Guardiola won 14 titles with Barcelona, and the key to his success was Lionel Messi. Messi had career years under the guidance of Guardiola, highlighted by winning two Champions Leagues.
In speaking with ESPN, Pep Guardiola laid out his thoughts on Messi’s contract situation and what Barcelona must do or will try to do to resign their prodigal son.
Pep Guardiola on Lionel Messi’s possible return to Barcelona
“I’m a Barcelona fan, I’ve got my tickets [at Camp Nou], and I just hope that one day we can say goodbye to (Messi) as he deserves,” Guardiola told ESPN. “He’s the greatest player of all time.
“In the last 12 years or so, Barcelona had a ‘boom’ and that wouldn’t have been possible without him. And I’m not talking about numbers, but rather his involvement in the play, his beauty, his efficiency, his efficiency, everything.”
“I never would have thought that it would end as it did,” Guardiola added. “I’m convinced what president [Joan] Laporta loves Leo, and since he left, he has said [Messi] deserves to have a farewell for the important figure that he is.
“Leo helped our club [Barcelona] become much greater than when he arrived. When a person is so big, you have to say goodbye in the right way. He left because of very difficult financial circumstances, for thousands of reasons that I’m not going to get into.
“I hope the day comes when I’m in my seat [at Camp Nou] and I can stand up and applaud and say goodbye to Leo as he deserves. And I know that Joan [Laporta] is going to try, and Leo too, and he and his family will receive all the love that Barcelona fans have for him, with all the gratitude and respect for what he did for the club.”