Not Lionel Messi? 6 former teammates who don’t think he’s the GOAT
The vast majority of players who have played alongside Lionel Messi consider him to be the greatest of all time, but there are a few notable exceptions.
Surprisingly, not all of Messi’s former teammates consider him the best player that they’ve ever played alongside.
Here are six of his former teammates who have named someone else as the best player they’ve ever played with.
Bojan Krkic
Bojan made his senior breakthrough at Barcelona just a few years after Messi and the pair played over 100 games together.
While the Spaniard recognises Messi as one of the greatest players of all time, he doesn’t consider him as the best player that he’s ever played with.
During a recent interview with A Bola, he named Ronaldinho as his best-ever teammate.
“The best player I played with was probably Ronaldinho,” Bojan said.
“I know it’s difficult, and almost unfair, to single out anyone, given that I shared the pitch with Messi, who played at the highest level for years. However, Ronaldinho, in my opinion, had it all.
“He was an incredible playmaker. Whenever he had the ball – whether during the game or when he was preparing to take a penalty – the whole team trusted him. He really was a true leader.”
Keylor Navas
There have been conflicting reports regarding Navas and where his loyalties lie, regarding his best-ever teammate.
The Costa Rican goalkeeper has been fortunate enough to play alongside both Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, but he considers the latter as the GOAT.
Navas is quoted by DAZN – via Sportskeeda – as saying: “I have played with both Messi and Ronaldo, they are the best players on the planet, but I think Ronaldo is slightly better than Messi as he can do it outside his comfort zone.”
Yaya Toure
While Toure has described Messi as the GOAT on previous occasions, he named another of his Barcelona teammates ahead of him when naming the best player he’s ever played alongside.
When asked by Marca which player had the biggest impact on him at Barcelona, he replied: “Iniesta has been a phenomenon.
“Training with him every day was tremendous luck because I learned a lot. He was a different player physically, with a brutal talent.
“How he thought about the game and the intelligence that he had was something that caught my attention and that in football is very important.
“He feels the game and knows how to read it perfectly. He did not lose balls in training and neither in games.”
Andres Iniesta
Speaking of Iniesta, Messi didn’t even make his top five when naming his favourite players of all time.
READ: Andres Iniesta names his 5 favourite players of all-time: No Messi or Ronaldo…
Deco
Despite having the privilege of playing alongside both Messi and Ronaldo, Deco considers Ronaldinho as the best player that he’s ever played with.
“From the outset, it is clear that Leo and Cristiano are the greatest,” Deco told AS.
‘Especially because no one thought they could take so many years to this level, but the one that impressed me most despite not being so decisive was Ronnie [Ronaldinho].
“For me, he will always be the best.
“We met in Barcelona and immediately connected with him, the moments I lived with him are difficult to compare to anything. It was magical.”
Thierry Henry
While Henry regularly describes Messi as the GOAT, he considers Dennis Bergkamp as the best player he’s ever played alongside.
“Because of longevity, and because I saw him every day in training for seven years, Dennis Bergkamp,” is what Henry said during a Facebook Q&A in 2015.
“Why? Because he was always doing what the game was asking him to do.
“I admired how Dennis was always trying to respect the game. He could score but he could also pass and wait for the right moment…he was always trying to respect the game when he could do other stuff.
“But then I have to mention the freaks. Leo is a freak. I think you guys [fans] do not understand what the guy is doing. Him, Zizou, all these guys, you cannot do what they do, because it’s not humanly possible.”
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