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No other modern day footballer has been labeled the ‘best ever’ more times than the Barcelona legend Lionel Messi. The diminutive genius is certainly one of a kind and it seems highly unlikely that we will witness someone similar in our lifetime.
Messi is unarguably one of those few players who can walk into any world class team in the world and shadow any great player, except one of course. Is Messi the best player ever? Probably. Probably not. But he will at least be in the same bracket as Maradona, Pele and Cruyff when he decides to hang up his boots.
There’s a very good chance that we will tell tales of the Barcelona great to the younger generations a few decades from now, so instead of making senseless comparisons, we should cherish each and every minute whenever Lionel Messi steps on to the football pitch and gives us glimpses of his beautiful mind week-in, week-out.
The football fans are equally split into Messi camp and Ronaldo camp (as are the best betting sites when it comes to top scorer markets), but the football world heavily favours the Argentine over the Portuguese. Here’s a selection of a hundred great quotes on Lionel Messi by his teammates, opponents and renowned managers including Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger, Jose Mourinho and Jurgen Klopp.
Cristiano Ronaldo on Lionel Messi:
He’s a great player, but the only relationship I have with him is a professional one. I do respect him a lot as a professional football player. Messi’s left foot is very good — I would like to have that.”
“For the world of football, Messi is a treasure because he is role model for children around the world… Messi will be the player to win the most Ballons d’Or in history. He will win five, six, seven. He is incomparable. He’s in a different league.”
Kobe Bryant (LA Lakers)
“I wear Number 10 Jersey for the US National Team in honor of the Greatest athlete I have ever seen, Messi.”
Usain Bolt
“Messi or Cristiano – Speed? Cristiano. Shot? Cristiano. Dribbling? Messi. Intelligence? Messi. Talent? Messi. Winner is Messi!”
Pep Guardiola
“Don’t write about him, don’t try to describe him. Just watch him.”
Wayne Rooney
“Messi is a Joke, for me he is the Best Ever!”
“Every time he plays, Leo Messi reminds me more of Maradona, both left-footed and short, Messi is the best player in the world.. For us it is not a surprise. Since he began to come and train with us and we knew we would go down this path. Someday I will explain that I was at the birth of one of the footballing greats: Leo Messi.”
LeBron James
“Messi is the best player in the world. If he’s not already, he’ll be the best footballer of all time.”
“I am not ashamed to admit that in the games against Barcelona I spent a lot of the time just hoping he would take up positions as far away from me as possible. Elusive is the word that immediately springs to mind when I think about Messi’s style of play. You think you have an eye on him and then – blink – he has gone, only to reappear somewhere else in space, with the ball.”
“Messi, he’s exceptional. When you watch him, you feel there’s a child inside him and he is making some childhood dream come true. He’s a Great Player, not only for today but also tomorrow.”
Di Stefano (Ex Real Madrid)
“I am also amazed with Messi, what he is doing is very good. He contributes alot of very good things for the team. He is an individualist, but he always plays for the team.He covers well at the back, is organized and finishes well with both feet. He is mischievous, and is a very intelligent player. He applies pressure just where the pressure is needed.”
“This Guy (Messi) is the Best Player in the World, no doubt about that. I think we’re always nervous about calling people who are currently playing, who are young at 23, to say he’s the Best Player ever. But we shouldn’t be. We should admit what we are seeing in front of our eyes. This is a special talent, who may be is the Best Player ever been seen.”
Ruud van Nistelrooy (Ex Real Madrid)
“Messi is on a different level. The fact he is doing what he is year after year says that he is the best of all time.”
Gianluigi Buffon
“Messi is a once in a generation player. It’s unlikely that any human being will repeat his numbers.”
Gerd Müller
“My record stood for 40 years and now the best player in the world has broken it. I’m happy for him. Messi is fantastic. An incredible player, a giant. And such a nice and modest guy. Only one defect: he doesn’t play at Bayern.”
“I think now Messi is probably done more than most players. But he is in the same class as Alfredo de Stefano, Johan Cruyff, Pelé. When he finishes and he retires, he will automatically become one of them. A player that people will talk about forever, while the game of football is as good and as popular as it is. He is a sensational player.”
Novak Djokovic (Serbian Tennis Player)
“Messi is the best player on the planet and he keeps on improving at Barça, now the best team in the world. What Messi does on and off the pitch is an inspiration for children who dream of becoming a footballer.”
Jürgen Klopp
“Messi is the Best. There must be life out there somewhere, on some other planet. Because he is too good and we are just too bad for him.”
Luis Figo
“For me, to watch Messi play is a pleasure – it’s like having an orgasm – it’s an incredible pleasure.”
Franz Beckenbauer
“Messi is a genius. He has everything. When I watch him, I see a player who is very, very, skilful, very clever and his left foot is like Diego Maradona’s.”
Graeme Souness (Ex Liverpool)
“Lionel Messi is the Best Player Ever.”
Harry Redknapp
“Lionel Messi is the most amazing player I have ever seen.”
Mauricio Pochettino
“What Messi brings to a team, no other player can bring. Messi can break a match wide open.”
Joey Barton
“Messi is the best that’s played the game. Streets ahead of Maradona.”
Robbie Fowler
“The best player EVER (Leo Messi) without a shadow, if you didn’t think/know already…”
“There is no doubt that Messi is the best player in the world.”
Mario Balotelli
“There’s only one that is a little stronger than me: Messi. All the othersare behind me.”
Massimo Moratti
“Messi is the only player for whom I would go crazy.”
Michael Owen
“I can’t believe anyone can have played the game of football as well as Messi.”
Mikel Arteta :
“It is as if someone commands him from the stands, like a video game. I have never seen a human run with the ball at that speed. I have not seen Maradona so I cannot compare, but Messi is simply unbeatable.”
Luis Enrique
“Messi is the best in the world without any doubt and for me in the history of football,”
Hristo Stoichkov
“Once they said they can only stop me with a pistol. Today you need a machine gun to stop Messi.”
Thiago Silva (Brazil)
“Messi is a special player, certainly the best attacker I’ve played against to date, but I think comparing players from different generations is difficult. All I know is that he’s spectacular and already is definitely among the best ever.”
Demba Ba
“Is Messi a human being?
Terry McDermot (Ex Liverpool)
“Messi is the best ever. I played in a great Liverpool team of the late 70s and early 80s which ruled Europe but imust say i think this Barcelona team would batter us.”
Frank Rijkaard
” Leo’s goals are works of art.”
Andy Cole (Ex Manchester United)
“Regular readers will know I’m a fan of (Cristiano) Ronaldo, and an even bigger fan of the man who’s assumed his mantle with quite astonishing success, Wayne Rooney. But Messi is on a higher plain than even that pair.”
Raul :
“The other day I saw one of his games. He was running with the ball at a hundred percent full speed, I don’t know how many touches he took, maybe five or six, but the ball was glued to his foot. It’s practically impossible!”
Tostão
“Messi is better than Maradona; he is more complete, more consistent, more spectacular. He is reinventing the game – a mix of the real and the virtual.”
Gilberto
“Messi’s plaudits are hard to accept, we play in other countries and we do not see the local fans supporting our players there. Over 40 thousand Brazilians applauded, and that’s hard for who is on the field. When I see them applauding Messi I get annoyed.”
Billy Beane (American Baseball Player)
“You know, I’d actually say Lionel Messi. He’s so remarkable, watching him play he’s probably still undervalued. When you’re scoring five goals in one Champions League match, there’s no value that’s too high.”
David Beckham
Messi is one of the best players I’ve played against and also one of the finest players I’ve ever seen.”
Mario Gomez
“I am not crazy enough to compare myself with Messi because he is the best there ever was and the best there will ever be.”
Eidur Gudjohnsen
“Messi’s control is the best I have ever seen, it is truly breathtaking.”
“I was a big fan of Maradona growing up and of the current crop Ronaldo is good but Messi is the best I’ve ever seen. I don’t dish out praise lightly but Messi deserves it. I look for weaknesses in his game and I can’t find them.”
Ivan Helguera (ex-Real Madrid)
“For me, Messi is the best player in history”
Emmanuel Adebayor (Tottenham)
“He told me someone else was coming to dinner and all of sudden Messi walked in. He looked so small so insignificant, and yet to me he was the world’s greatest player. For a moment, I wasn’t even able to speak.”
AC Milan chief Adriano Galliani
“Messi is the best player ever. And this is said by someone who has seen Maradona and Pele play.”
“The best way to stop Messi is when you play with 11 men and then you can double mark him, one player to stay on him and the other to help out. If it is 11 against 10 then you have almost no chance of stopping him.”
Bacary Sagna
“He is the best in the world. Football seems easy when he plays it.”
“Critics have always questioned whether players like Pele from the 50s could play today. Lionel Messi could play in the 1950s and the present day, as could Di Stefano, Pele, Maradona, Cruyff because they are all great players. Lionel Messi without question fits into that category.”
Turkish international Arda Turan years before he joined Barcelona:
“Messi or Ronaldo best player in the world? In the world, I would say Ronaldo. Messi is from another planet.”
Samuel Eto’o
“Messi is God, as a person and even more as a player. I knew him when he was a boy and I’ve watched him grow. He deserves it all.”
Vicente Del Bosque
“Messi or Ronaldo? I prefer Messi because he is more of a street player.”
Xavi
“It is clear that Messi is on a level above all others. Those who do not see that are blind.”
Filipe Scolari
“The only bad thing about Ronaldo’s life is Messi. If it was not for him, Ronaldo would be the best player in the world for five years in a row.”
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge :
“Nobody was so wonderful at 19 years, neither Pele nor Maradona.”
Portuguese writer Antonio Lobo Antunes
“There are three or four important things in life: books, friends, women… and Messi.”
Antonio Cassano :
“Ronaldinho is better than Cristiano Ronaldo, but neither are as good as Leo Messi.”
Radamel Falcao
“Is Messi a real player or a Play Station character?”
Barcelona president Sandro Rosell
“Barca will never have a player like Messi again. Messi’s greatness is present on and off the field of play.”
Carles Puyol :
“He is a spectacular player, there is nobody else like him. I should not because I have suffered so much in training. I think he is the best forward at the moment and I think he will be so for many more years. He has his feet on the ground.”
Israeli model Bar Rafaeli
“At this point I’m starting to believe that Messi is tightly related to Clark Kent (Superman).”
Franck Ribery
“Messi is class. There is him, and then there is the rest. What he does is extraordinary.”
Thiago Alacantara
“We give him the ball and stand back and watch. People often say to me they saw Pele and Maradona play. In the future, I will be able to say I saw Messi play.”
“He is always going forwards. He never passes the ball backwards or sideways. He has only one idea, to run towards the goal. So as a football fan, just enjoy the show.”
Former Tottenham star Gerry Armstrong
“I have played against Platini, Maradona, Cruyff and played with George Best — a lot of big names, but none of them has been able to do what Messi does. Two years ago I said that the best player I played against was Maradona and the best player I have played with was Bestie. But I can now say I have never seen a player as good as Messi. He’s in a league of his own.”
Diego Simeone
“Diego [Maradona] filled us with emotions. But between the cracks, without doubt, Messi is better than Maradona.”
Maxi Rodriguez
“There is no doubt, you’re from another galaxy. Thanks Leo.”
Arsene Wenger
“Who is the Best Player in the World? Leo Messi. Who is the Best Player Ever? Leo Messi.”
“Messi does not need his right foot. He only uses the left and he’s still the best in the world. Imagine if he also used his right foot, Then we would have serious problems.”
Gary Lineker
“Fella’s a genius. Best ever by a distance in my life time. Never really saw Pele… Souness, Gullit, Venables and now Rooney agree Messi is the best they have seen. He plays a game with which we are not familiar.”
Former Barcelona and Chelsea star Albert Ferrer
“I played with Romario, Rivaldo, Ronaldo, Laudrup and Stoichkov but Messi is the best I’ve seen”
Gerard Pique
“It feels good to be in the same generation as him. I believe he’s the best player in the history of the sport.”
“There is only one player who is doing things that I could never do — and that is Messi.”
Argentina’s 1986 World Cup-winning coach Carlos Bilardo
“Messi defies the laws of anatomy, he must have an extra bone in his ankle.”
Dutch star Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
“Who’s better, Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo? Messi. Ronaldo is good, but Messi is 10 times better.”
John Terry
“Lionel Messi is quite clearly the best player ever. It’s a pleasure to pit myself against him and when I finish my career it’s something I can look back on and know I’ve tested myself against the very best.”
Fabio Capello
“In my entire life I have never seen a player of such quality and personality at such a young age, particularly wearing the ‘heavy’ shirt of one of the world’s great clubs.”
“I have seen the player who will inherit my place in Argentine football and his name is Messi. Messi is a genius.”
“I like Messi a lot, he’s a great player. Technically, we’re practically at the same level.”
Tata Martino
“He sees passes that most people can only see whilst watching the game on TV, not ones that you can normally see on the pitch.”
Javier Mascherano
“Although he may not be human, it’s good that Messi still thinks he is.”
Football commentator Ray Hudson
“They tell me that all men are equal in God’s eyes, this player makes you seriously think about those words.”
Michael Laudrup (Ex Barcelona, Ex Real Madrid)
“The Messi of the early years was a phenomenon, but he always wanted to finish off the move. Now he goes past one, two or three players and is happy to give an assist to a teammate, it makes him more dangerous than ever before.”
Romario
“Newton and Einstein had a certain level of autism – I hope that, like them, Messi surpasses himself every day and continues to give us his beautiful brand of football.”
Radomir Antic
“Messi is the Mozart of football.”
Paolo Maldini
“I think he reached and surpassed the level of Maradona. He does incredible things, at a speed that is insane.”
Thierry Henry
“What Leo does is so incredible that I have to be careful not to stand still watching him make his moves.”
Del Piero
“Messi is the real deal when it comes to Number 10s. He represents a type of football that transcends borders.”
Bradley Johnson (Norwich City)
“Lionel Messi was made in a laboratory, he’s not human.”
Carlo Ancelotti
“Casillas saying he wouldn’t sign Messi for Madrid? Messi has a place in every team in the world.”
Tito Vilanova
“Messi the best player in the world by far. I don’t think we’ll ever see a player like him again.”
Santiago Solari (Ex Real Madrid)
“What’s really incredible is his consistency. It’s practically inhuman to keep going like him. What Messi has achieved, far outweighs what Cristiano has done.”
Robert Snodgrass (Hull City)
“We’re all going to look back in 15 to 20 years time and say we were lucky enough to watch Messi play.”
Julio Salinas (Ex Spain)
“If Gary Lineker is saying that Messi is making him realise just how sh*t he was — then imagine how the rest of us feel.”
David Silva (Manchester City):
“My dream XI. Upfront I’d choose Messi. For me he’s the all-time best player.”
David Villa (Ex-Barça):
“Messi does incredible things, his stats make you cover your eyes. He cannot be compared to anyone.”
Edinson Cavani:
“Messi has been the best player in the world for the last 7 years. He doesn’t talk, doesn’t complain, he just plays football.”
Kobe Bryant (LA Lakers):
“I’ve been watching Messi for some time now, and his ability to decide games and keep possession of the ball is amazing.”
Alan Shearer:
“He creates his goals from absolutely nothing — more so than anyone that I’ve ever seen.”
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Founder and editor of Footiecentral. A voracious reader who loves reading anything and everything related to the history of football. He’s an ardent supporter of Manchester United and rarely misses a match.