‘He’s the greatest footballer of all time’ – France’s Ousmane Dembélé on former Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi | OneFootball

Of the dozens of players he has had the chance to play with since the start of his career, Ousmane Dembélé (29) is in no doubt: Lionel Messi (38) is without question the best of them all. That’s why the Ballon d’Or winner believes the Argentine is still capable of winning the World Cup. “He can win every trophy there is,” Dembélé said in an interview with Marca.

And it doesn’t matter that the Argentine now plays in Major League Soccer or is approaching his 40th birthday; “it doesn’t change a thing” for the Frenchman.

Why? Because, in Dembélé’s eyes, Messi is quite simply “the best I’ve ever seen, the greatest footballer of all time”. “He’s still a real threat. Hard to stop, even at 38. He may be that age, but he’ll always retain those qualities. We’ll have to watch out for him, because he’s capable of winning it all again,” warns the Paris Saint-Germain forward.

He, perhaps more than anyone else, is perfectly aware of this. The memories of 18th December 2022 are there to remind him. A night when Messi shone in the Qatari night, scoring a brace and converting his penalty to deny France a second consecutive title. A painful experience for Les Bleus, who would nos love to give the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner a taste of his own medicine. 

GFFN | Léo Aschi