A Quote by Gary Lineker

Fella’s a genius. Best ever by a distance in my life time. Never really saw Pele… Souness, Gullit, Venables and now Rooney agree Messi is the best they have seen. He plays a game with which we are not familiar.
He is the best. The best in the world, yes. Probably the best ever. I saw Maradona a couple of times. I never saw Pele. But Cristiano is amazing. This man is the best... Cristiano is a goals machine. He is an incredible player. He is like Zidane, there will never be another Ronaldo.
I never saw Pele, but I watched Maradona, for seven years I saw every game. He's not one of the best, he's the best.
Messi is the best player ever. And this is said by someone who has seen Maradona and Pele play.
Leo [Messi] is the best player of all time - better than Pele, Maradona or Cruyff. There have been some great teams in history - Pele's Brazil, Cruyff's Ajax, Sacchi's Milan - but in the past 20 years this Barcelona team is the best.
I was a big fan of Maradona growing up and of the current crop Ronaldo is good but Messi is the best I’ve ever seen. I don’t dish out praise lightly but Messi deserves it. I look for weaknesses in his game and I can’t find them.
There are people you can say you have seen play, such as Pele or Maradona. But Messi is unique, out on his own, and is going to make history. I can say I saw Messi play.
I have played against (Michel) Platini, (Diego) Maradona, (Johan) Cruyff and played with George Best — a lot of big names, but none of them has been able to do what Messi does. Two years ago I said that the best player I played against was Maradona and the best player I have played with was Bestie. But I can now say I have never seen a player as good as Messi. He’s in a league of his own.
Pele was the best of his era, Diego Maradona was the Pele of the Eighties, and Ronaldinho is the Pele of our time.
Messi is the best. I have not seen or will ever see a player like Lionel Messi.
The world's best when I was growing up was Pele and he would have been a great player now, too, but Messi surpasses him.
It has been an honour to be the coach of the best player (Messi) I have ever seen and probably the best I will see.
Tennis is at an amazing time when you've got two of the best players ever to play the game. You can argue the two very best playing in the same generation. It's a rivalry I think that we've never seen in our sport.
I think Cristiano and Lionel Messi are two of the best players in the history of the game. Are they better than Pele or Diego Maradona? They are at the top, but I think it is difficult in football to say who is first or second or third.
This Guy (Messi) is the Best Player in the World, no doubt about that. I think we're always nervous about calling people who are currently playing, who are young at 23, to say he's the Best Player ever. But we shouldn't be. We should admit what we are seeing in front of our eyes. This is a special talent, who may be is the Best Player ever been seen.
Messi is undoubtedly a gifted footballer, like Maradona and Pele, and he's playing for the best club side in the world at the moment. He's successful and he's winning trophies, so it's only logical that he'll be voted the best player in the world.
Messi is the best player on the planet and he keeps on improving at Barça, now the best team in the world. What Messi does on and off the pitch is an inspiration for children who dream of becoming a footballer.
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