Ronaldo played under Sir Alex between 2003 and 2009 before leaving for Real Madrid for £80m.

The GOAT debate in football between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will likely rage on forever – and legendary retired boss Sir Alex Ferguson made his feelings on the argument perfectly clear.

Messi and Ronaldo dominated the world football stage for the best part of 15 years between them as the Argentinian and Portuguese forwards were for that time the top two players on the globe.

Messi came through the youth team ranks at Barcelona and has won eight Ballon d’Or’s in his remarkable career.

During his time at the Camp Nou, Messi scored 672 goals in 778 games as he won 10 La Liga titles and four Champions League crowns.

The latter stages of Messi’s career have been spent at Paris Saint-Germain and now with MLS side Inter Miami.

The 37-year-old has also tasted success with Argentina, winning two Copa America titles and the World Cup in 2022.

Ronaldo’s career has run mostly parallel with Messi’s as they met on opposing sides on numerous occasions, with the Portuguese winning five Ballon d’Or titles himself.

Ronaldo moved to Manchester United from Sporting Lisbon in 2003 for more than £12m and he went on to win three Premier League titles and the Champions League at Old Trafford.

He departed for a then world record £80m transfer fee in summer of 2009 to move to Real Madrid and went on to regularly face Messi at Barcelona.

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Ronaldo scored 450 goals in 438 games for Real as he won four more Champions League titles and two La Liga crowns at the Santiago Bernabeu.

A move to Juventus followed in 2018, before a return to United in 2021 but Ronaldo’s second spell at Old Trafford ended in late 2022 when his contract was terminated by mutual consent, and he subsequently moved to Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr, where he remains to this day.

Ronaldo, like Messi, has tasted success on the international stage after winning the Nations League and the European Championships with Portugal.

Sir Alex managed Ronaldo during the attacker’s first spell at United, and he came up against Messi at Barcelona, with the Catalan side beating the Old Trafford outfit with the Argentine forward scoring in both the 2009 and 2011 Champions League finals.

The former United boss, who retired in 2013, once gave his view on who he thinks is better out of Ronaldo and Messi – and while he admitted he cannot argue with people who say the Argentinian is the best in the world, he made another argument where he suggests Ronaldo could play for a wider spread of teams than Messi.

Speaking back in 2015, as per the Manchester Evening News, he said: “People say who is the best player in the world? And plenty of people quite rightly say Messi – you can’t dispute that opinion.

“But Ronaldo could play for Millwall, Queens Park Rangers, Doncaster Rovers, anyone, and score a hat-trick in a game.

“I’m not sure Messi could do it. Ronaldo’s got two feet, he’s quick, great in the air, he’s brave – Messi’s brave, of course. I think Messi’s a Barcelona player.”