'My plan was to snap Messi... but you can't catch him'

Atletico boss Diego Simeone once said that if Messi were a 'Colchonero' history would be very different and Saul could scarcely agree more with his manager's view. "So different!," he enthused. "He's on another level, seriously.

"When I saw him on TV, I said 'I'm going to try and snap him, to try and catch him'... but he's on another level, you can't catch him."

Indeed, the Spain international is of the belief that there is no finer player in the world than the Barcelona number ten. "There is no one else like him. He has all the records, he scores goals, he created goals, he starts moves... I love it when he works back to regain possession," Saul went on.

"If he does that as well (working back), it's very difficult for his team to not win. It makes no sense that if Messi runs, other people don't. Who isn't going to run?"

Saul also spoke about the first option that Barcelona hold on him, saying that it means absolutely nothing. "I found out about it when I was at Rayo," he revealed. "They told me that Barca had that agreement, but in the end if no one wants to pay the release clause then it doesn't matter. Aside from that, I have a long contract at Atletico and everyone knows what I want."

The playmaker has been linked with Barcelona on a number of occasions, but has always insisted that he only wants to represent Atletico. Though he did admit he would probably chose Barcelona over Real Madrid if he had to leave Atleti due to the bad blood between his current side and their city rivals.

"Hypothetically, I would be more likely to sign for Barca, but because of the love I have for Atletico Madrid, nothing else," he explained. "Above Atletico there are only two teams and you're not going to go to one of them..."