Graeme Souness says Cristiano Ronaldo is better than Lionel Messi, but both better than Diego Maradona
Graeme Souness believes Cristiano Ronaldo is better than Lionel Messi following the star forward's 700th club career goal.
Ronaldo brought up another incredible landmark after scoring his side's winner against Everton last weekend.
He came off the bench to score in Man United's 2-1 win at Goodison Park, bringing up his 700th club career goal.
The 37-year-old has scored at Sporting CP, Man United, Real Madrid and Juventus during his legendary career.
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He's excelled in three major leagues across Europe and Souness believes that's enough of a reason to favour Ronaldo over Messi.
But the Liverpool legend reckons they're both better than the late, great Diego Maradona.
"I've always leaned towards Messi. They’re the two best ever for me," he said on talkSPORT, when comparing Ronaldo and Messi.
Jim White chipped in, saying: "You’ve played against Maradona."
Souness added: "Yeah, but longevity comes into it.
"If Maradona had been playing until the end, we would be talking about him in the same breath I’m sure, but because of the longevity."
The 69-year-old continued his argument for Ronaldo by highlighting his success across the Premier League, La Liga and Serie A.
He also claimed Messi has 'huffed and puffed' in Ligue 1 since moving to Paris Saint-Germain from Barcelona.
"See Ronaldo has done it in the big leagues, hasn’t he? Messi has huffed and puffed in the French league," explained Souness.
"Which for me was taking the argument away as why he wasn’t such a player for Argentina.
"Because he’s still playing against the same players in the Champions League every fortnight and making them look like schoolboys.
"But Cristiano has done it in three leagues now."
Ronaldo opened his account for the season with his strike against Everton while Messi enjoys a blistering start to the 2022/23 campaign.
He's weighed in with eight goals in all competitions, having starred for PSG this season.
Topics: Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United, Football, Graeme Souness
Nasir Jabbar