Lionel Messi

"Messi is a joke. For me, the best ever."

"Is Messi playing in the Champions League or is he playing a Playstation game?"

"He plays like he’s on PlayStation, it’s unbelievable. People who say otherwise either don’t know anything about football or are just talking nonsense."

"Leo is from another planet. What makes him the best is that other great players have had ups and downs, like Maradona. He wasn’t half of what Leo is at Barça. Messi has had so many good years in his career that he deserves to be considered the best ever."

"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!"

"For years I thought that there would never be a player like Maradona. But now Messi is at his level."

"It’s something for me that I can tell my kids that I’ve played against Messi when we watch him on television. For me he’s got everything. He is magical to watch. When I finish and look back, and he will still be going strong, I will be able to say to myself I tested myself against the best. And quite clearly, for me, he is the best ever. He’s a great individual player but a great person as well and a credit to football."

"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."

"He's a once in a generation player. I think it's unlikely that any human being again will repeat the numbers that Messi is getting."

"He's been by far and away the best footballer in the world for the last five or six years. He's the best player of all time and if he stays fit he will continue for the next five or six years. The things he does right now are out of this world. Of course, he doesn't play by himself, but he is simply incredible. He always finds a way and is always a yard quicker than everyone else. If you have a player like that on your side, you needn't fear anyone."

"I think Messi is the best in the world, a very good player and that he is a gift from god."

"He is by far the best player in the world – he’s a one-off."

"Messi is class. There is him, and then there is the rest. What he does is extraordinary. He demands admiration."

"Messi is the best, for me, Messi is God, he is the best and always will be – for what he has given the team and for how much he has made me enjoy being in the same team as him."

"It's the efficiency that made the difference. Messi is fantastic, the best player ever."

"Lionel Messi is out of this world, he's an alien. For me, he is the best player in the history of football."

"Messi is God – you see him on the pitch and he is spectacular."

"Messi is unbelievable. It is great to get the chance to play against the best in the world. It doesn't really need repeating: he is a fantastic player."

"Lionel Messi. Oh... I think this guy is fantastic. He’s the best player I have ever seen in my life."

"Needless to repeat, that he’s the best player in the world, the best of all-time. I enjoy training with him, he makes everything easier."

"He's the best of all time."

"Messi has always been my idol."

"He's achieved so many great things and set the bar so high that practically nobody is ever going to reach it."

"Messi is the best player in the world. We'd have to kidnap him to stop him."

"It's impossible to control Leo for 90 minutes."

"Messi is an alien, that dedicates himself to playing with humans."

"Messi is so talented that 70% of the goals I scored at Barça came from his boots. With him in your team, you're calm."

"Having him as a rival is complicated. You see game after game that it is impossible to take the ball off him, impossible to stop him. There are no words to decribe his talent. For me, and as others have said, he is from another planet."

"Messi is out of this world. He is a special player and you can't compare him to me. It would be unfair to him."

"It's a gift. I haven’t seen any other player, at least during my career, who plays like Messi does. For me that makes him the best footballer in the world."

"For me, he's the best player in the world. That's football. Defending Messi one-on-one is not possible."

"Messi is the best player of all time, and today he had a stormer."

"I think Messi's just beyond everyone else."

"The best striker I have ever faced? Lionel Messi. It has always been Messi."

"The best player ever? Lionel Messi."

"I spent four beautiful years with Messi at Barcelona. He is an exceptional player. I'm very happy that he was my teammate."

"This award says I’m the best player in the world, but I’m not even the best player at Barcelona."

"I have seen the player who will inherit my place in Argentine football and his name is Messi. Messi is a genius and he can become an even better player. His potential is limitless and I think he’s got everything it takes to become Argentina’s greatest player."

"He deserves 10 out of 10 for doing what he does."

"I see Messi every time he grabs the ball and accelerates. But he is shy, like a little brother who likes to hang out with PlayStation rather than talk. We must protect him. I'd personally put him in a drawer of my bedside table."

"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."

"Nobody was so wonderful at 19 years, neither Pele nor Maradona."

"Leo floats over the field - sometimes you have the sensation he's not even there, that he's hiding. But he's there and the rival knows it."

"Messi is out of this planet, I would say he is so far ahead of the rest of the players playing right now and I would say historically as well. There are not words to describe him."

"Once they said they can only stop me with a pistol, but today you need a machine gun to stop him."

"For me, to watch Messi play is a pleasure – it's like having an orgasm – it's an incredible pleasure."

"When I see Messi playing, I think he should win the Ballon d'Or every year. I have no doubt. He is an unbelievable player."

"The ball stays glued to his foot; I’ve seen great players in my career, but I’ve never seen anyone with Messi's ball control."

"He is probably the best player of the last 20 years. He is such a slippery player. Because of his height and quickness he is difficult to pin down and his balance is exceptional."

"He is an exceptional talent. I still think Diego Maradona is the best player I have ever seen – but Messi is closing in fast. He's a wonderful sight in full flight and we are lucky to have him around."