'Maradona is better than Messi who only has one skill,' Pele on the best player in football

What's the story?

Brazilian legend Edson Arantes do Nascimento, popularly known as Pele appears to have taken a dig at Barcelona and Argentine ace Lionel Messi when he was asked what he thought about people calling Messi 'the best ever' in an interview.

In case you didn't know...

Pele is one of the most well-known football players on the planet, and together with the likes of Diego Maradona, established himself as a legend in the game.

The Brazilian icon has recently sat down for an interview with Folha de S.Paulo where he made a number of revelations about the current Brazil team, Lionel Messi and Argentine legend Maradona.

The heart of the matter

Pele has expressed his thoughts on people calling Barcelona ace Messi 'the best in the world' saying, it is "a question of taste".

The Brazilian then appears to take a dig on Messi in the interview when he says, "How can you make a comparison between a guy who heads the ball well, shoots with the left, shoots with the right... and another who only shoots with one leg, only has one skill, doesn’t head the ball well?"

"How can you compare? To compare with Pelé, it has to be someone who shoots well with the left, shoots well with the right, and scores headers."

He then went on to say that for him, Maradona is a lot better than Messi: "As far as I'm concerned, Maradona was one of the best players ever. If you ask me, 'Was he better than Messi?' Yes, he was. Much better. [Franz] Beckenbauer, [Johan] Cruyff are also better. They're also excellent players."

What's next?

Whether or not Messi was better than Pele or Maradona, he remains, without any doubt, one of the best football players in the history of the game.

The 33-year-old will likely be in the Barcelona squad that will face Espanyol in La Liga on Sunday.