Paris Saint-Germain star Lionel Messi recently opened up about his former teammate Xavi Hernandez's return to FC Barcelona as manager.
Following the expiry of his contract in June, the Catalan giants revealed that they were not able to afford a new deal for their record goalscorer, despite the Argentine being open to taking a massive pay cut in order to stay at the Camp Nou.
Following Messi's departure, the club found themselves languishing in the middle of the table 10 games into the season, which ultimately led to Ronald Koeman losing his job as manager and eventually being replaced by Xavi.
Scroll through the gallery below to see Xavi's reported 10 strict rules at Barca
The Spaniard's tenure at the Camp Nou has got off to a good start after the Blaugrana secured maximum points against city rivals Espanyol on Saturday, and Messi has now given his prediction for Barca's future with his ex-teammate in charge.
"Xavi is a coach who knows a lot, who knows the house perfectly, who knows everything well since he was a child," the 34-year-old told Marca.
"He is a very important person for the young people and that he is a person who will make Barcelona grow a lot, I have no doubt."
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The PSG star was also quizzed as to whether or not he thinks his new team could win this season's UEFA Champions League.
"Everyone says we're the big favourites," Messi responded.
"I won't deny that we're one of the candidates, but we still need some things to be a really strong team."
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