Deco claims Lionel Messi's ex-Barcelona teammate was 'technically' better than the Argentine

Barcelona sporting director Deco has claimed that Ronaldinho was technically an even better player than Lionel Messi. The former Portugal international, who shared the pitch with both Messi and Ronaldinho at Barca, has hailed the Brazilian football great.

While Messi is widely regarded as arguably the greatest footballer of all time, Deco has claimed that Ronaldinho was even better technically. However, the Barcelona sporting director believes that no one beats Messi in terms of overall ability to create goalscoring chances out of nowhere.

Deco told Spanish outlet Sport, as quoted by Barca Universal:

“Technically, Ronaldinho is the best player I’ve ever seen. In the ability to compete and generate danger, however, I have never seen one like Messi. It is something that cannot be explained. It’s something different, which doesn’t happen many times."

Deco also claimed that when Messi was making waves as a youngster, the Barcelona players were well aware of his talent. The former Portugal and Chelsea midfielder added:

“We made a lot of jokes with ‘Ronnie.' We told him that he would be Barça’s number 10 and that we would be watching him from the outside. We knew that he had the capacity to be something very big, but imagining everything he would do was impossible."

Ronaldinho had a pretty illustrious career for both club and country, but his peak was somewhat shortlived. He was a key part of Brazil's World Cup-winning squad in 2002 and won the Ballon d'Or in 2005.

Ronaldinho spent five seasons on the books of Barcelona. He made 207 appearances for the Blaugrana, scoring 94 goals and providing 71 assists. He donned the No. 10 shirt at the Camp Nou until his exit in 2008, after which Lionel Messi was handed the iconic number.

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Barcelona star Wojciech Szczesny picks between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo

Barcelona goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny has picked between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo sharing his take on the GOAT debate. The rivalry between Ronaldo and Messi has divided the world of football in two parts for almost two decades now.

Szczesny joined Barcelona earlier this month as an emergency acquisition following Marc-Andre ter Stegen's season-ending knee injury. The fomer Poland international, who also played for Arsenal and Juventus, picked Messi.

Szczesny said, as quoted by Barca Universal:

“Ronaldo and Messi are very different, they are both great players and for me, they are the best players in history. For the beauty of football that Messi has shown in the last 20 years, for me he has to be number one."

Interestingly, Szczesny shared the pitch with Cristiano Ronaldo at Juventus and still opted for Messi. Szczesny and Ronaldo made 101 appearances together across three seasons for the Old Lady.