Lionel Messi believes Pep Guardiola's success has 'harmed' football as the Barcelona legend made a revealing transfer admission. The seven-time Ballon D'Or and World Cup winner made the surprise comment while lavishing praise on his former boss during a tell-all interview with 'Simplemente Fútbol'. The now Manchester City boss took over in Catalunya in 2008 and guided his beloved club, with the likes of Messi, Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez in tow, to an unprecedented treble by a Spanish club in his first season in charge. Guardiola won 14 trophies during his four seasons as the manager of Barcelona . This includes three La Liga titles, two Champions League titles, two Copa del Rey titles, three Spanish Super Cups, two UEFA Super Cups, and two FIFA Club World Cups. He also helped take Messi's game to another level, who set a new world record with a staggering 91 goals in 2012. During this period, La Blaugrana were renowned for their possession-based football and quick passing, often labelled 'tiki-taka', which was revered and copied by clubs and academies around the world. But in the rare interview Messi admitted that his bosses' football philosophy may have stagnated the progress of the beautiful game. Speaking to player-turned-journalist Quique Wolff on YouTube channel 'Simplemente Fútbol, Messi said (via a translation from All About Argentina's X handle): "Pep Guardiola is from another world. He's different, he sees things no one else does. He changed football. Everyone wanted to copy us. "In fact, he kind of did harm to football, because people tried to play like our Barcelona. "But we were a special team...that midfield Xavi, Busi, Iniesta, everything was perfect between players and coach." Many former players, coaches and pundits have long commented that Guardiola's all controlling system has 'ruined' the beautiful game by taking away player's ability to improvise and create. Former England manager Fabio Capello believes "arrogant" Guardiola "ruined" football while Gary Neville calling Man City "boring" earlier this season for their dominance on robotic adherence to Guardiola's wishes. However, Messi was still effusive in his love for both Pep and Barcelona and revealed a glorious return to the La Liga giants was on his mind since parting ways with the club in tears in 2021. Messi the went on to play for Paris Saint-Germain in France for two seasons, winning multiple Ligue 1 titles and other domestic accolades. After a two-year stint with the French giants, the Argentine made the surprising decision to join MLS side and David Beckham owned club Inter Miami. But 37-year-old revealed that he thought about returning to Spain in 2023, after his contract with the Parisiens ran out. “I had the intention of returning to Barcelona and being able to go back to a place I always wanted to be, but it wasn’t possible again”, he said, alluding to Barcelona's financial constraints at the time. He added: “After that, it (deciding on a new club) became a family decision. The fact that we won the World Cup also had a big impact. I was clear that I didn’t want to be at another team in Europe, I didn’t want to go to any of them”.