Former Barcelona Winger Rejects Lionel Messi As the Greatest Player of All Time

• Lionel Messi is not the greatest player of all time, according to his former teammate Gerard Deulofeu
• The Udinese winger instead picked one-time Ballon d'Or winner Ronaldinho as the greatest player to ever grace the pitch
• Lionel Messi spent 20 years at Camp Nou before leaving for PSG last summer on a free transfer

Former Barcelona winger Gerard Deulofeu has picked legendary Brazil forward Ronaldinho Gaucho as the greatest player of all time, ahead of Lionel Messi.

Deulofeu is a product of Barcelona's famed La Masia academy and played 23 games across two stints at the Spotify Camp Nou.

The 28-year-old played together with Messi when he made his first appearance for the senior side in 2011 before being loaned out to Everton two years later.

Arguably, Messi is tipped by a lot of football fans as the greatest to ever grace the pitch, but the La Masia graduate believes that Ronaldinho is superior to the Argentine.

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“For me Ronaldinho is the best player ever, in history. I met him. I went to watch a game at Camp Nou and he was sitting next to me. It was a wonderful experience,” Deulofeu explained, as per Marca.

He added: "Messi is incredible too, I like him very much. "I played with him for six months and he is a nice person, a great player. The whole world knows about Messi."

Messi spent 20 years at the Camp Nou after arriving from his native country as a teenager. He went on to become the club's record appearance holder and top scorer, scoring 672 times in 778 games.

Messi yet to convince Ancelotti

At the same time, Sports Brief has reported that Real Madrid manager, Carlo Ancelotti has insisted that Messi is not the best in football history.

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The veteran scored his 800th professional goal against Panama on Thursday and he is now one short of the 100-goal mark for the national squad.

Despite leading Argentina to victory at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Ancelotti does not share the belief of football fans and pundits across the world.

Van Gaal picks Ronaldo over Messi

Louis van Gaal is among a number of high-ranking members of the football fraternity who have now delved into the Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi debate.

Speaking on the legendary duo, the former Netherlands coach heaped praises on the two iconic superstars as the best players of their era.

Van Gaal, 71, then disclosed his preference for the Portuguese legend in the GOAT debate, as reported by Sports Brief.

"And the big question, Messi or Cristiano? The best players of this period are Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Choosing between them is difficult," Van Gaal told Onda Cero, via Sportskeeda.