Andy Cole snubs Cristiano Ronaldo & Lionel Messi when naming the greatest player of all time | OneFootball

While most former Manchester United players tend to back Cristiano Ronaldo in the GOAT debate, Andy Cole has a different player as his number one.

Of course, Cole himself never played alongside Ronaldo at Old Trafford as he left the club two years prior to the Portuguese winger joining.

In fairness to Cole, he’s always been very complimentary of CR7, especially when he returned to Old Trafford in 2021.

“The goals that he’s got. He’s done almost everything in his career,” Cole told Premier League Productions when describing Ronaldo in 2021.

“To still have that hunger and desire – that tells you everything.”

However, while the former United striker clearly has a lot of admiration for CR7, he doesn’t consider him to be the best player of all time.

When most other people hold that view, they tend to back Messi in the GOAT debate, but Cole has a different player in mind.

Asked to name the greatest player of all time by ESPN, Cole replied: “Diego Maradona.”

In fairness, he does rate Messi highly too, having described the Argentine wizard as the best dribbler of all time, along with Maradona.

Having grown up in the seventies and eighties, it makes sense that Cole is particularly fond of Maradona.

The former Napoli star inspired his generation and was a cut above the competition during his peak years.

Having never had the chance to watch the likes of Pele or George Best live, Cole feels like it would be unfair to judge them againsty their modern counterparts.

“In the perennial debates about the greatest player of all time, I take the view that I cannot judge Pele or George Best, because I never saw them play in the flesh,” Cole wrote in a Independent column in 2010.

“I don’t doubt their genius but I grew up watching another, Diego Maradona.”

In terms of the best out-and-out striker of all time, Cole thinks that Ronaldo Nazario stands above the rest.

“I remember when we played Inter Milan that same season and I lined up in the tunnel and I saw Ronaldo. I’m not gonna lie, I nearly wet myself,” Cole admitted on The Beautiful Game Podcast.

“This is the guy I’ve watched for years. I’m talking about a baller, a straight baller. He had everything in the locker and I’m standing in the tunnel at the San Siro and I’m saying: ‘This is sick’.

“I’m always honest and I’m always open when it comes to things like this. Playing against these kind of guys. It’s something that when I do take the opportunity to look back, I say to my boys: ‘I’ve done alright. I’ve half made it!’.