Ryan Giggs' take on Leo Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Adnan Januzaj

Messi and Giggs

The man who has won 13 Premier Leagues, four FA Cups, four League Cups and two Champions Leagues, who has scored 168 goals in 951 games for Manchester United, has recently voiced his thoughts in an interview with The Telegraph.

When asked about his take on the best team and player in the world, Ryan Giggs commented: “The Barcelona team who beat us at Wembley were the best I played against. They had Lionel Messi, the best I’ve seen. Diego Maradona is my favourite because I’ve great memories of him growing up: left foot, great balance, getting kicked, doing it in World Cups. I have a special feeling for Maradona. With Messi, you can say ‘keep him on his right foot’, but he always seems to get on his left foot. He’s just brilliant. You can’t kick him. You can’t rattle him. He just gets on with it.”

Cristiano Ronaldo with Giggs

“You could probably wind Cristiano up,” the Welshman continued. “He’s been rattled a few times. I do feel for him being at the same time as Messi but in my eyes he’s still a phenomenon, a brilliant talent. He’s done it in Portugal, in England and now in Spain. He’s not a Clive Allen or Tony Cottee. He’s not a goal-hanger. He’s a dribbler, a talented player, powerful, and just scores so many goals. When I take free-kicks, I try to spin it so it curves away from the keeper. Ronaldo hits the ball head on with no spin so the ball moves from side to side and the keeper doesn’t know where it’s going.”

Adnan Januzaj with Giggs

Talking about the best players in the business, there was no way he was gonna leave out a young Manchester United prodigy with great expectations, and probably his long-time successor on the left wing.

He continued: “The top players – Messi, Ronaldo – ride the tackles. We are seeing it here with [Adnan] Januzaj. He’s slightly built, but he can ride tackles. He has that potential to be a top player. You don’t want to get too excited over him but he’s grounded and he’s at the right club.”