The Croatian midfielder, who was teammates with Messi at Barcelona from 2014 to 2020, asserted that during his time as the team’s captain, the football icon wasn’t the greatest at giving you instructions.

Following Andres Iniesta’s departure, Messi was handed the armband for three seasons, from 2018 to 2021, and he led his team to the La Liga championship in 2019.

Messi is the best in history, and if he put his mind to it, he could be the best left back in the world if he wanted to!” he said via Diario AS.

“Although he was sometimes not the best captain to tell you what you had to do, that was because he was unique and different.”

Since then, both players have left Barcelona; Messi left in 2021 to join Paris Saint-Germain, one of the top teams in Ligue 1. The World Cup winner currently plays for Inter Miami in the Major League Soccer (MLS), where he was named captain in 2024.

Rakitic, meanwhile, left the Camp Nou and went back to his old team, Sevilla. Before accepting a lucrative contract from the Saudi Pro League, where he plays for Al-Shabab, he was one of several players in the latter stages of their careers.

Al-Shabab, who are tenth in the SPL, face Karim Benzema’s Al-Ittihad side on Friday evening. Their next fixture will be played on May 4 against 13th placed Al-Raed.

Elsewhere, Messi is enjoying an impressive start to the MLS campaign as Miami currently sit top of the Eastern Conference with 18 points across the opening ten games. The former Barcelona man has seven goals and six assists in six appearances.