"My record stood for 40 years - 85 goals in 60 games - and now the best player in the world has broken it, and I'm delighted for him. He is an incredible player, gigantic."

"His control and technique while going at full speed is unique in 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."

"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."

"Messi is better than Maradona and Pelé. Every week he shows that he is capable of things that no one had done until now. Messi defies the laws of anatomy, he must have an extra bone in his ankle."

"I think now he’s 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."

"Messi is simply the best player in the world. Messi is alone in his class as a player, it is impossible that there is another like him."

"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."

"When Messi has the ball at his feet he can do things that you can’t imagine."

"He's the great player of this generation, like there were great players in other generations."

"Messi produces more pieces of exceptional skill in a single game than I managed in an entire career."

"There's a special part of Messi's brain allowing him to see the split-second chaos of football in his own personal super slow motion."

"Messi is really a different class. To win four consecutive Ballon d'Ors is a great achievement."

"He's the first genius of the 21st century."

"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."

"Messi makes the difference. I think he has reached and surpassed the level of Maradona."

"The best by far is Messi. Second is Maradona, third is Pele and Di Stefano. Fifth is Cruyff, Zidane or Pele."

"Messi is the real deal when it comes to No10s. He represents a type of football that transcends borders."

"Messi is the best in the world by far; for me, nobody comes close."

"Messi has been the best player of the last 10 years. He played at the same level for 10 years."

"I never ever thought I would say that there was a better player than Maradona since he was in my time and I was in awe of him, but I honestly think for a number of reasons that Messi has surpassed him. He can do anything that Maradona did, and he does it more frequently and consistently."

"Barcelona have a great team with one special player, Messi. He is able to unlock a game from out of nowhere. Cristiano Ronaldo has been putting in spectacular performances, but there really is no comparison with Messi. Messi is on another level than all the other players. He is the undisputed best. No player has the ability to do what he does."

"He can hurt you 40 metres away from goal, not because he takes the ball and starts dribbling past opponents, but because on top of that he can also create the definitive goal chance. The god of football started playing, he is unstoppable when he starts playing. If you think otherwise, ask Jerome Boateng or all those fantastic players that face him."

"I’m never satisfied. I always push my limits and try to get better every day""

"Everything. But everything I did, I did for football, to achieve my dream""

"Being a dad changes everything for the better and I’m really enjoying it."

"Barcelona gave me everything, they took a chance on me when nobody else would. I never have any desire to play for anybody else, I will be here for as long as they want me."

"I will never go to trial against Barça because it is the club that I love, which has given me everything since I arrived here. It's the club of my life, I made my life here. Messi interview with Goal, announced he remains at Barca - NAIJANEWS247 September 4, 2020."

"I never set out to be the best player in history. I think I'm just another footballer. On the pitch we are all the same and when the game starts I always try to improve myself. My intention is that when I retire, I will be remembered for being a good person."

"In football as in watchmaking, talent and elegance mean nothing without rigour and precision""

"You have to keep working hard and playing well because people will start to forget what you have done before if you don’t""

"Every year I try to grow as a player and not get stuck in a rut. I try to improve my game in every way possible. But that trait is not something I've worked on, it's part of me""

"You cannot allow your desire to be a winner to be diminished by achieving success before and I believe there is room for improvement in every sportsman""

"I always want more. Whether it’s a goal, or winning a game, I always want to improve.""

"My ambition is always to get better and better""

"Sometimes you have to accept you can't win all the time""

"I never think about the play or visualize anything. I do what comes to me at that moment. Instinct. It has always been that way""

"The best decisions aren’t made with your mind, but with your instinct""

"Allow yourselves to dream and then chase after those dreams. That will always require effort and sacrifice, but be persistent!”"

"You have to fight to reach your dream. You have to sacrifice and work hard for it""

"I have fun like a child in the street. When the day comes when I'm not enjoying it, I will leave football""

"I've always really just liked football, and I've always devoted a lot of time to it. When I was a kid, my friends would call me to go out with them, but I would stay home because I had practice the next day""

"I start early, and I stay late, day after day, year after year, it took me 17 years and 114 days to become an overnight success""

"I'm lucky to be part of a team who help to make me look good, and they deserve as much of the credit for my success as I do for the hard work we have all put in on the training ground""

"In the semi-final Messi showed he's the top man. He is only 20 as well, imagine how good he will be in the next 10 years. I'd love to play alongside him."

"I'm not sure he is human."

"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."