Pele Quotes

Ronaldo is better than George Best and Denis Law, who were two brilliant and great players in the history of United.

What differences were there between Maradona and Platini?

There's different types of strikers: Harry Kane is a wonderful finisher, Jamie Vardy has great pace and has come onto the scene exceptionally well and is playing consistently, and Wayne Rooney is a player I have admired during all of his career.

We often compare footballers with players of the past.

Simeone, De Boer, Van Basten - fantastic names to have worked with.

Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, they play on a different galaxy.

Eric Cantona is a great player, but he's not as good as Ryan Giggs

I think now Messi is 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.

Critics have always questioned whether players like Pele from the 50s could play today. Lionel Messi could play in the 1950s and the present day, as could Di Stefano, Pele, Maradona, Cruyff because they are all great players. Lionel Messi without question fits into that category.

[Wayne Rooney] has to be viewed as a great England striker if he breaks Sir Bobby Charlton's record. Scoring goals at international level is much more difficult than it was a few years back because even the lesser teams are well organised and don't concede too many goals these days.

I’d go for Scholesy as the club’s greatest ever player. I’ve seen him do things that no other player can do. The way he can control the tempo of games, and his range of passing, are both incredible. We’ve seen over the years that players just haven’t been able to get near him. And you can’t forget his goals either.

I thought the first Welsh team I played in was the golden generation, with Neville Southall, Mark Hughes, Ian Rush, Dean Saunders, Gary Speed, and Ryan Giggs.

Messi, there is only one, as there was only one Maradona. You cannot replace players like them.

Roy Keane and Paul Scholes were unbelievable players. You cannot compare yourself to them. It is impossible. Scholes especially, I like him a lot, and I have a lot of respect for what he did for United.

Argentina have always had the best strikers in the world.

Dave Mackay was one of the best I've ever seen. Jimmy Greaves was the greatest goal scorer, and George Best was just the best. The greatest.

Every club has legends, and at Barcelona, Cruyff and Pep are going to be spoken about forever, knowing what they've achieved and in what style.

When I played for Stuttgart, I met Manchester United and Chelsea. With United, I immediately think of the duels with Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes and with Chelsea, it was John Terry. Those players are symbols of their clubs and the success they had at that time.

Maradona is among the best five players I've ever seen: Garrincha, Pele, Diego, Cruijff and Beckenbauer.

The African greats who were playing when I was growing up inspired me - players like George Weah, Abedi Pele, Tony Yeboah, Kalusha Bwalya, and all the others who made Africa proud.

I'm not Zidane and not Rui Costa, but I have qualities - I can create assists - but I have to step up a level to become like those two.

Messi is top but Maradona is another world.

If you look at the top midfielders in the past for England, like Lampard, Gerrard, and Scholes, they were always on the scoresheet.

I think about the great players with whom I have shared a pitch: Eric Cantona, Zinedine Zidane, Pirlo, Xavi, Cristiano Ronaldo - and the greatest of them all is Messi.

The first pair of boots I remember owning were Puma Spiders - I still have them in a cupboard at home! They were fantastic boots. I was nine-years-old and I scored about 70 goals with them in a season.