Former Barcelona president Joan Laporta says Lionel Messi is the greatest player in history.
Laporta insists Messi is also a tribute to the club's academy.
"I think Leo Messi is the best player in football history. He is one of those players that appears every 50 years," he said. "For me he is a mixture of (Johan) Cruyff and (Diego) Maradona.
"In that sense I would not like to think about how much it would cost to buy Lionel Messi at this time if we had to sign him."
