Albert Benaiges, the former Barcelona academy director, takes great satisfaction and pride from having mentored some of the greatest footballers on the planet during his 20-year stint at the Nou Camp.

The Spaniard played an integral role in the development of star players such as Andrés Iniesta and Lionel Messi, who came through the ranks of La Masia.

“It has been a big privilege to be able to mentor Messi, one of the most famous and best football players in the world; especially Iniesta, the player that scored the winning goal in the 2010 World Cup for Spain,” said Benaiges through an interpreter this week. “I am very privileged and honoured that the children that I trained are now champions of Europe and champions of the world — and there are many, many more to be discovered.”

Benaiges and Iniesta have developed a father-son bond over the years and always keep close tabs on each other.

“He [Iniesta] called me this morning and asked me how was I doing in Bermuda,” said Benaiges, who now heads up the World Sport Academy Cornellà programme that is affiliated with the BAA academy run by Kenny Thompson. “He was travelling to Washington with the national team.”

Highlighting the qualities that make Iniesta the player that he has evolved into, Benaiges said: “Iniesta is a very fast player, very smart and he has really good qualities in general.

“He is missing a bit in the body, but because he has all these other good qualities, he is a great player.”

Asked has the world seen the best of the likes of Messi and Iniesta, Benaiges replied: “Iniesta, we never know because he has no limits, but Messi has been below his level this year and I hope he will achieve the same level he did two years ago after the World Cup.”

Barcelona failed to win any honours during the past campaign in La Liga and failed to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League for the first time in six years after being ousted in the quarter-finals by Atlético Madrid, who also pipped them to the Spanish title on the final day of the season.

Benaiges points the finger for Barcelona’s disappointing season, by their lofty standards, to the Spanish court’s inquiries into the signing of Neymar, the Brazil striker, which led to the resignation of Sandro Rosell as club president.

He said tax evasion charges filed against star striker Messi, the player’s struggles with injury and the death of Tito Vilanova, the former Barcelona coach, also took their toll on the Catalan side.

“It has been a very difficult year because of Tito’s death and the economic problems that have affected Messi and Neymar, and the president has had to resign because of the economic problems,” Benaiges said. “But, even though there has been all these problems, Barcelona were still in the final of Copa del Rey and could have also won the championship [La Liga].”

Barcelona were also served with a 14-month transfer ban for breaching rules on signing international players under 18. But they will be able to do business in the summer after appealing the sanction.

Benaiges, who is regarded as one of the architects behind Barcelona’s football philosophy, also touched briefly on Spain’s upcoming World Cup defence in Brazil.

“It is very difficult but you never know,” he said. “In the year 1982, the big favourite was Brazil and Italy won, and then at the 2004 European Championships in Portugal, the home team was the favourite and the winner was Greece. Anything can happen; you just never know.”