Arsene Wenger says that football fans won’t realise what Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have given to football until they retire.
The former manager gave his thoughts on the pair at the FIFA Best awards show yesterday, where Messi was named Men’s Player of the Year after guiding Argentina to World Cup victory in December.
Despite Ronaldo not being nominated for any awards, the Portuguese’s influence in football over the past few years has been immense, and Wenger says that despite their differences, they are two unbelievable players.
“When they are not playing anymore, we will only then realise what they have both given us.
The pair have scored 1668 career clubs goals between them which further highlights their class but Wenger admits that he avoids the debate as to which of them is better.
“I always refuse to make a hierarchy of them because they are two separate players, but two exceptional players who have shown the world for 15 years how great football can be.”
👏🇫🇷 Arsene Wenger on Ronaldo & Messi: "When they will not be there anymore, we will realise what they have given us." pic.twitter.com/tvRcoxVxAx
— EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) February 28, 2023
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Messi was also named as part of the FIFA FIFPRO Men’s World XI along with the likes of Erlling Haaland, Virgil Van Dijk, and Luka Modric. You can view the full XI here.