Pedri admits he "found it hard to believe" that Lionel Messi was leaving Barcelona when news of a stunning exit broke in the summer of 2021.
All-time great left as a free agent in 2021Stunned the world with a switch to PSGPedri proud to have worked with legendFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
Eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi severed career-long ties with the Blaugrana when reaching the end of a lucrative contract in Catalunya. It emerged that La Liga's giants did not have the finances required to put fresh terms in place.
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An emotional goodbye was bid by Barcelona’s all-time leading goalscorer, with tears flowing before a move to Paris Saint-Germain was completed. It was only when Messi made his way to France that a switch nobody could have predicted became real to those that the Argentine icon was leaving behind.
WHAT PEDRI SAID
Pedri was just 12 months into his Barca career when Messi moved on, with the Spain international telling of how he initially refused to accept that the rumours of an impending departure were true: "It was a shock when Leo Messi left. I was playing in the Olympics, and I found it hard to believe."
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Pedri did, however, get to experience life alongside the all-time great and quickly learned that it was always best to nudge the ball in that direction. He added on working with the GOAT: "I always passed the ball to Messi. Clearly, he was better than me. He was incredible in training; we were lucky to see him."
