Liverpool legend Graham Souness has admitted that he has changed his mind over who is better between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
There has been a long-running debate within the footballing sphere over the better player, with the pair having performed on practically the same stage over the past two decades. Indeed, they went to head-to-head countless times during their spell together in La Liga with Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively.
Ronaldo reached a landmark goal total over the weekend as he scored his 700th club career goal in Manchester United ’s 2-1 victory over Everton at Goodison Park. In the meantime, Messi has managed to put together near identical numbers having accumulated 702 goals for both Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain.
While some share a strong opinion over who they believe is the better player, ex-Liverpool man Souness has revealed that he has changed his mind having seen Ronaldo continue his clinical run across spells with Real Madrid, Juventus and of course the Red Devils.
Speaking with talkSPORT, he said: “I've always leant towards Messi. Those two are the best two ever. I played against Maradona, but longevity comes into it.
“Ronaldo has done it in the big leagues. Messi has huffed and puffed in France and obviously he's done in Spain and the Champions League.
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“But Cristiano's done it in three leagues now. Spain, Italy and England, whereas Messi, OK he's having a good year this year, but he's only really done it in Spain.”
While Souness has thrown his backing behind Ronaldo, it is actually Messi who is enjoying the better season despite a tricky debut campaign with PSG last time out. The 35-year-old currently has eight goals and eight assists to his name in all competitions this season having only got on the scoresheet on 11 occasions last term.
In the meantime, Ronaldo has just two goals to his name this season - his latest against Everton following his first strike of the season against Omonia Nicosia in the Europa League.
United boss Erik ten Hag has backed the veteran forward to continue his goalscoring run having seen the forward end his lean spell in the league.
Speaking after the win against Everton, the Dutchman said: "That is really impressive, when you score 700 goals. It's a huge performance, I'm really happy for him. I congratulate him on that performance and I'm also happy it's his first goal this season in the Premier League - he had to wait for it and I'm sure there will be more goals.
"I think every player needs it, even when you are the best in the world, you need it, you need the goals. And I worked with many goalscorers, especially them, they need goals in every season to have that feeling, to have the confirmation of the intuition. And once they have some goals, they come in the flow and games go easier. That will happen with him as well."
