Sergio Busquets has praised Lionel Messi as the "best player in history" and claims nobody can rival his Barcelona teammate in terms of talent.
Messi, 27, scored his 21st La Liga hat trick to lead Barca's 5-1 comeback victory over Espanyol on Saturday, extending his record as the Spanish top flight's all-time record goalscorer.
Busquets -- who made his 300th first-team appearance for Barca in Saturday's Camp Nou clash -- believes the Blaugrana are "adapting well" to new coach Luis Enrique's tactics, and can keep improving with Messi leading the way.
"Messi is the best player in history," the 26-year-old told the club's official website. "I wasn't around 50 or 100 years ago, but I think he's the best because of the things he does and the records he's breaking almost every day. It's impossible to find anyone else with a talent like his."
After making his landmark appearance for the Catalan giants, Busquets thanked former Barca coach Pep Guardiola -- now at Bayern Munich -- for handing him his debut in 2008.
"When I came here I never imagined it would go so well, I'm very happy, and hungry to play even more games," he continued. "It's been everything I ever dreamed of and more.
"I was very young and had high hopes. I really wanted to make the most of the chance that Pep gave me, and to enjoy sharing a dressing room with the kind of players who not long before then, I had only ever seen on television.
"I think I'm the same player that I was six years ago, but I'm more experienced now. Playing so many games means you get to know everything that happens not just on the pitch, but off it as well."
Busquets has followed in Carles Puyol's footsteps by taking on both the former captain's No. 5 shirt and joint captaincy for Barca, and says the former Spain legend's words of encouragement have been important for him in adapting to the role.
"It was an honour for a teammate like him to say that he wanted me to take the No. 5 from him," he said. "Obviously it made me very proud.
"Whether you like it or not, [the captaincy] means you have to take on new responsibilities. You have to be that bit more involved, and I'm really happy about that."
The defensive midfielder also had positive words for teammates Xavi and Javier Mascherano, describing the latter as "a very complete footballer ... it's an honour to be in the same squad as him and I've learned a lot from him."
As for the former, Busquets added: "He's one of the best teammates I've ever had. He's very professional. He is very implicated with the team and he always helps us."