With Samuel Eto'o still having a special relationship with many of his former FC Barcelona teammates, he has now revealed his recent advice for Xavi Hernandez, which was related to "God of Football" Lionel Messi.
The retired Cameroon striker, who first played for Real Madrid but never made it to the club's first team, made 199 appearances for the Blaugrana, scoring 130 goals and assisting another 40 strikes, following a stint with Mallorca.
He has now advised his former colleague Xavi Hernandez to return to the Blaugrana as coach while Messi is still active.
"I already said to Xavi not long ago: 'You have to go back to Barcelona while Leo is still there', because with him it would all be easier," Eto'o told Catalunya Radio.
"Xavi is a natural leader who knows how to manage emotions and, what's more, he's a very good guy.
"He's upfront, he understands football and I insisted, 'Machine, you have to go back and try to do something with the 'God of Football' (Messi) still there.'"
Xavi was approached by Barcelona to become the club's manager after Ernesto Valverde was fired in January, but rejected the offer and later revealed that he felt it was not the right time to take over the reins at his former club.
