"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."

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

"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."

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

"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."

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

"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."

"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."

"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!"

"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."

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

"There is no doubt, you're from another galaxy. Thanks Leo."

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

"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."

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

"I’ve always said Messi is the best player in the world."

"Although he may not be human, it's good that Messi still thinks he is."

"When you face him you have to make decisions in an instant. When he approaches you, you have to make the sign of the cross and pray that everything will be alright."

"Messi is God, as a person and even more as a player."

"To me, Messi is the greatest player in the world right now. He has got a fantastic vision of the game, and what he can do technically - it's just crazy. The things he can do with the ball - and at pace and top speed - is just amazing. What decides it for me is not his many goals, although his goal account is impressive, but the thing is that he can do so much for his team. What counts is the total amount of his many, many qualities. He is just the greatest."

"People often say to me they saw Pele and Maradona play. In the future, I will be able to say I saw Messi play."

"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."

"Messi is the best and cannot be compared to anyone. Messi cannot be compared to anything."

"I prefer to win titles with the team ahead of individual awards or scoring more goals than anyone else. I'm more worried about being a good person than being the best football player in the world. When all this is over, what are you left with? When I retire, I hope I am remembered for being a decent guy""

"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""

"I always thought that if you want to be the best, you have to work harder than everyone else""

"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."

"You can overcome anything, if and only if you love something enough""

"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""

"He is from another planet. He is the main point of reference and the key man in the whole Barça team."

"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 made sacrifices by leaving Argentina, leaving my family to start a new life. I changed my friends, my people.""

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

"I always thought I wanted to play professionally, and I always knew that to do that I’d have to make a lot of sacrifices."

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

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

"I'm not sure he is human."

"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."

"There’s nothing more satisfying than seeing a happy and smiling child. I always help in any way I can, even if it’s just by signing an autograph. A child’s smile is worth more than all the money in the world""

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

"For my part, I try to do my bit to make people's lives more bearable, in particular children across the globe who are having problems""

"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""

"I always try to improve and score more goals. I want to be the best.""

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

"There are more important things in life than winning or losing a game""

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