Pedri was teammates with Lionel Messi for just one season at Barcelona. Pedri made his debut for Barca in the 2020-2021 campaign, which turned out to be Messi’s final season with the Catalan side, as he went on to sign a free transfer deal with Paris Saint-Germain in the 2021 summer transfer window.

Pedri often faced off against Messi in training over the course of the 2020-2021 season. As Pedri touched on during a recent appearance on the Spanish-based program “El Hormiguero,” the Spanish midfielder had quite a difficult time containing the Argentine forward during training sessions.

“You can’t take the ball away from him,” Pedri said. “No matter how hard you try.”

Messi showed throughout his run at Barca that he did not take it easy on his teammates in training. He regularly scored top-class goals and often made a multitude of defenders look foolish.

Messi has been linked with a return to Barca as of late. He is set to hit free agency after this season. For Pedri, he added that he “would love” to see the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner make his return to the reigning La Liga champions.

“I would like Messi to come back to Barcelona,” Pedri told GOAL. “It depends on Barcelona and Leo. But as far as I’m concerned, I hope he comes back.”

Messi has three more games left in the 2022-23 Ligue 1 season and it seems he’s keen on finishing out the campaign before addressing his future. Barcelona appears to be the primary European destination; however, there are other interested in parties.

Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal and MLS side Inter Miami are linked to the player; however, Messi reportedly wants to remain in Europe, so those two destinations appear to be long shots.