Guardiola Explains Why Messi Is The Greatest Footballer Of All Time

Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, has explained why he regards Paris Saint Germain (PSG) forward, Lionel Messi as the greatest footballer of all time.

Naija News reports that Messi had just added to his career records after winning the 2022 FIFA World Cup with Argentina in Qatar last week.

Guardiola, who was a former manager at Barcelona, spoke about the former Catalan during an interview on Sky Sports on Wednesday. According to the Spanish professional football manager, Messi’s World Cup triumph confirms he’s the best footballer in history.

He added that the World Cup win was the “final achievement of an incredible career” for Messi. Guardiola admitted that even if Messi had not won the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, he would still rate him as the best.

Giving his reason on why he hailed Messi as the best player ever, Guardiola said the Argentine star is a competitor and an ‘animal’.

The English Premier League club coach also congratulated Messi’s Argentine teammate, Julian Alvarez, who is also a player at Manchester City.

He said: “One of our own is a world champion, as well as Nicolas Otamendi, who was also a former City player.”

The Man City boss added: “Everyone has an opinion, but nobody can doubt that he is there, with the greatest of all time. For me, I said many times he is the best, but it will be difficult to understand.

“A player can appear and compete with what he has done in the last 50 years to 70 years, but the people who saw Pele or Di Stefano or Maradona, they can say their favourite.

“In their opinions they are sentimental, you know? But on the other side, if he (Messi) had not won the World Cup, my opinion about what he has done for world football, it wouldn’t have changed absolutely anything. Of course, for him, it’s the final achievement of an incredible career.

“Do you know why Messi is the best player I’ve ever seen in my life? Because he is a competitor. He’s an animal.”

Congratulating Alvarez, Guardiola said. He added: “We are incredibly happy for him (Alvarez), congratulations to him and Nicolas Otamendi, and personally to Lionel Messi.

“For Argentina as a country, they are a well-deserved champion. For Julian, he is with us and we are delighted because he played a lot.

“His contribution was amazing for the team and the way they played. We have a world champion in our team.”