Neymar's father has explained why the Brazilian star left Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain in 2017 for a world record transfer fee.
The Brazilian forward had struck up a lethal attacking trio with Messi and Luis Suarez during his time with the Catalan giants.
So it was a surprise when Neymar opted to leave the Camp Nou and make the switch to the French capital in a world record deal worth €222 million.
Read: Ronaldo: Who said Messi's better than me?
Neymar Sr, has revealed he didn't want his son to leave Barcelona, but says he left due the club wanting him to replace club legend Messi.
"Going to PSG was his decision, he decided to change," the player's father told the Jota Jota Podcast.
"At that time, we were in a very difficult situation at Barca because we didn't know what the sporting management thought.
"It seemed that the club wanted him to take Messi's place, and he didn't want that. He decided to leave, to go somewhere else. I wanted my son to stay at Barca. Until the last days, we tried to keep him from leaving. But he left because he didn't want to take Messi's position and be Barca's biggest star."
Neymar and Messi did end up reuniting four years later after the Argentine join PSG on a free transfer after Barcelona were unable to renew his contract due to their financial issues..