Barcelona will never replace Lionel Messi - not even Cristiano Ronaldo is near his level, insists Xavi

Xavi says that while there will be many great players in years to come, nobody will have the individual success that Messi has during his career

Xavi says that Messi will never be replaced by the Nou Camp club

Xavi believes that Barcelona will never be able to replace Lionel Messi when he eventually decides to call it a day.

Iconic midfielder Xavi also claims that there is "no comparison" between the level of Messi and his long-term Ballon d'Or rival Cristiano Ronaldo.

Xavi, who played with Messi until last summer when he decided to leave Barcelona for Qatar, insists that nobody will ever be as good as the little Argentinian.

He told Sport: "For me, there is no heir to Messi. There will never be one. There will be very good footballers, but nobody at Messi's level.

Xavi believes that while there will be great players in years to come, nobody will win quite as many individual awards and break the same records in years to come.

Xavi played with Messi for many years at Barce

Xavi is insistent that Messi is the greatest footballer of all

He cites his current Barcelona team-mate Neymar alongside Chelsea's Eden Hazard as players who will become the best in the world.

But he does not think they will ever be at the same level as Messi.

He continued: "Though now they try to sell the story of the Cristiano and Messi battle, those of us who know football, know there is no comparison.

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Xavi does not believe that Neymar will quite reach Messi's level

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He also believes that Hazard will be one of the greats - but not on Messi's level

"When Messi ends his career, there will be Neymar, Hazard, five or ten players at a similar level, but none with the unquestionable superiority of Messi."

Argentina star Messi retired from international football earlier this summer after losing out in the Copa America final for the third time in his career.

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Messi retired from international football following the Copa America final

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He missed a crucial penalty in the shootout

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Messi decided to end his international career

Messi was on the losing side in the 2007, 2015 and 2016 Copa America finals as well as the 2014 World Cup.

"That is it. I fought hard," he said. "This is the fourth final I couldn't win. I would like to win for the national team more than anybody, but I think it's not for me.

"This is it. This is my decision. I fought hard. I did everything I could to win. But the truth is this is it. It's already been four finals. I was already thinking about it. I did everything I could. It was not possible to win."

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