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Lionel Messi dined with multiple former Barcelona teammates on Monday evening but there was one notable absentee at the meeting.

The Argentine superstar left the Catalan club after 16 seasons in their first team this summer in a high-profile summer transfer to Paris Saint-Germain.

Messi flew into the city on Monday and had a highly-publicised dinner with former teammates of his at the Camp Nou.

The 34-year-old dined with the club’s long-serving players Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, with the three players enjoying a strong friendship away from the pitch.

It is not only the players who stay close both during and after life at the Blaugrana but their families are too, with the partners of each player sharing close friendships.

The event took place at a high-end Japanese restaurant in the city – where Barcelona boss Xavi Hernandez was also dining ahead of his birthday on Tuesday.

Xavi starred alongside Messi for the club for a decade and returned in November last year to replace Ronald Koeman as the club’s boss.

Pepe Costa, a former employee of Barca, was also having dinner at the restaurant.

Yet there was one notable absentee from the event as the club’s experienced central defender Gerard Pique was