"We have to be objective" - Paulo Dybala claims Lionel Messi deserved his Ballon d'Or award this year, believes Argentine is 'best in history'

Argentine attacker Paulo Dybala has claimed that Lionel Messi deserved to win the Ballon d'Or and also hailed his compatriot as the best player in the history of football.

Messi won the eighth Ballon d'Or of his illustrious career, beating Manchester City attacker Erling Haaland and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) superstar Kylian Mbappe. However, there have been plenty of debates regarding whether he deserved it.

Paulo Dybala has, however, insisted that Lionel Messi absolutely deserved it and also hailed him as the greatest to ever grace the game. The AS Roma attacker said, as quoted by All About Argentina:

"Messi plays whole different football. It’s hard to even not give him the Ballon d’Or’s in the years he didn’t win it, because he’s the best since he started. At the World Cup he cleared all doubts, we know he is the best in the history and will be the best in history when he retires."

Dybala claimed that the World Cup is the most important tournament in world football and both Lionel Messi and Emiliano Martinez deserved their accolades based on the competition.

"For some people he was missing the World Cup, and what he did and when he won it, apparently he didn’t deserve it according to them. I understand some people could have bias on certain players but we have to be objectives," he said.

"There was a World Cup year and the World Cup is the most important competition in the world. For me it was undebatable. Same goes for Dibu," he added.

Messi had an excellent campaign for club and country last time out. He scored 21 goals and provided 20 assists in 41 appearances across all competitions for PSG, helping the French outfit win the Ligue 1 title.

In the World Cup, he scored seven goals, including a brilliant brace in the final against France, winning the Golden Ball for the second time in his career. Following his switch to MLS side Inter Miami in the summer, Messi has contributed with 11 goals and five assists in 14 appearances.

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