Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo?
It’s a debate that has divided football fans, pundits, and players alike for nearly two decades.
Since bursting onto the scene in the early 2000s with Barcelona and Manchester United, respectively, the two have been constantly compared.
Statistically, there’s little to separate them. Both have scored an astonishing number of goals and provided countless assists.
In terms of trophies, Messi holds the edge, having won the World Cup and eight Ballon d’Or awards to Ronaldo’s five. However, both remain among the most decorated players in football history, collecting silverware wherever they’ve played.
Even now, as they wind down their careers with Inter Miami and Al Nassr, the comparisons remain. Fans continue to ask: Who is truly the greatest? Is it Messi, with his otherworldly talent, or Ronaldo, with his unmatched athleticism and relentless work ethic?
From Cole Palmer to Jadon Sancho, here’s what Chelsea’s current crop of players have to say on the matter – perhaps settling the argument once and for all.
Cole Palmer: Messi
After winning the PFA Young Player of the Year award in August 2024, Cole Palmer spoke with Goal and was faced with football’s toughest question: Messi or Ronaldo?
Palmer sided with the Argentine.
However, when asked which player in football history he would trust to score a penalty if his life depended on it, the Chelsea star chose neither. Instead, he backed himself.
Nicolas Jackson: Ronaldo
Nicolas Jackson has shared on multiple occasions that Ronaldo was his idol while growing up in The Gambia.
In 2023, he told The Telegraph: "When I was growing up, I loved Cristiano Ronaldo. I had his name on a shirt that I always wore. Not an actual shirt because they’re expensive, so you don’t buy them. But I had a shirt that I wrote '7, Ronaldo' on with a pen. I did it myself when I was a kid."
"I would pretend to be him," he added.
A year later, the striker told the Premier League’s official media channels that his friends used to call him "CR7" when he was younger.
Marc Cucurella: Messi
Marc Cucurella came through Barcelona’s academy and, while he never played alongside Messi, he spent plenty of time training with him.
Recalling that experience in a 2023 interview with Goal, the Spanish defender described what made Messi so special.
"For me, he is the No. 1 in the world," he said. "The most incredible thing is that when you watch the game, he’s walking a lot, [but] he’s watching everything, watching the space. And then when he receives the ball, he has the information and the gaps in his mind [so] he is ready to ‘kill’ the other team."
Enzo Fernandez: Messi
It will come as little surprise that Argentine midfielder Enzo Fernández, who won the 2022 World Cup alongside Messi, believes his countryman is the greatest footballer of all time – ahead of Ronaldo.
Speaking about Messi with journalist Gastón Edul in 2023, Fernández said, as quoted by AlbicelesteTalk: "Whenever I talk about Messi, I get goosebumps. He is my idol, there are no words. He is the greatest of all time."
Pedro Neto: Ronaldo
Like Fernández, it will hardly come as a shock that Portuguese winger Pedro Neto thinks his international teammate Ronaldo is the GOAT.
Speaking to the 1 Para 1 podcast in March 2024, Neto described Ronaldo as the "ultimate model."
“Just the fact of the way he speaks, the way of being the best, that you always have to think that you are the better because, if you don't believe in yourself, no one else will," he said. "And I took that very literally. The way he thinks, and the way he works, I think it’s a model to follow."
Mykhailo Mudryk: Ronaldo
Upon joining Chelsea from Shakhtar Donetsk in a £89 million move in January 2023, Mykhailo Mudryk was asked a number of questions by Goal, including who he would choose between Messi and Ronaldo.
"My [idol] was Ronaldo," the Ukrainian replied. "I like his mentality."
Jadon Sancho: Messi
Back in 2020, during his first spell at Borussia Dortmund, Jadon Sancho sat down with Soccer Bible to discuss whether he had ever felt starstruck on the pitch.
The English winger named three players: Neymar, Kylian Mbappé, and Messi.
"Messi just speaks for itself," he said. "Best player in the world."
Noni Madueke: Ronaldo
Another Chelsea winger who prefers Ronaldo over Messi is Noni Madueke, who revealed in a Q&A with BBC Radio 5 Live Sport in 2024 that he believes the former Real Madrid star is the better of the two.
When asked who his first-ever favourite player was, the Englishman replied, "Cristiano Ronaldo."
He was then asked if he thinks Ronaldo is "better than Messi," to which he responded, "Yeah, for me."
Joao Félix: Ronaldinho
Some Chelsea players don’t believe either Messi or Ronaldo are the best footballers of all time.
João Félix, for example, currently on loan at AC Milan, believes that title belongs to a certain Brazilian legend.
"Ronaldinho," Félix said in a 2024 interview when asked who he thinks is the GOAT, according to Sports Keeda.
Félix isn’t the only Chelsea loanee who thinks Ronaldinho is the greatest. Raheem Sterling shares the same opinion.
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