WHEN you share a training pitch with Lionel Messi, it must surely be difficult not to get distracted by his brilliance.

Yet for Saints’ newest signing, Oriol Romeu, it was not the wizardry of the Argentinian that cast the greatest spell on him during his time at Barcelona.

Instead, his attention was more sharply focused towards two of the Spanish giants’ other famous stars, who arguably set the gold standard for central midfielders all over the world.

“For me, as a player, the ones that surprised me the most were [Andres] Iniesta and Xavi,” Romeu, who came through Barcelona’s revered La Masia academy, said when asked about training with the likes of Messi.

 

“In every training sessions they were amazing.

“The way they treat the ball is different from anyone else. They are top players.

“Obviously, it’s difficult to get at that level, but a few things that they are doing you always can look up to and try to learn from them.”

With players of that calibre ahead of him, Romeu’s chances were limited at the Nou Camp, with a move to Chelsea following in 2011.

The Spaniard was a regular presence in his first season at Stamford Bridge, and was an unused sub in the Blues’ Champions League final triumph over Bayern Munich.

But changing managers at Chelsea and a serious knee injury in 2012 slowed Romeu’s progress, with loan moves to Valencia and Stuttgart following, before last week’s £5m switch to St Mary’s.

All in all, though, it is an impressive CV that the 23-year-old brings with him to Saints.

“As a player, you try to always learn from the others and the best ones,” Romeu said.

“I’ve been lucky to have very good teammates during my career and, as I said, it’s good luck that I had in the past and now I just want to try to keep learning from my new teammates, from my new coach and play good day by day.”

The new manager Romeu mentions – Ronald Koeman, a Barcelona legend – was also a big factor in his decision to move to Saints.

“It’s very important to learn from the best I think as a player,” he said.

“The coaches are very important alongside your career and he is one of the best, so to be one of his players it’s a pleasure and I just want to learn everything from him, from the staff also, from my teammates, and help them with everything – give my best in every training and every game and just try to play a better game every day.”