This is a very interesting question and of course we can have different opinions about it. For me, the quality of a football player depends not only on how he plays football, but also on how he is as a complete person. Is Messi among the top three footballers of all time? I think that there were footballers of his quality before, but we are too young to know it and rationally give a comprehensive assessment. As for the 21st century, it is definitely the best.
Messi is one of the best players alltime. In different times there is comparison not so easy. But if you compare the players in there own decade there are messi and ronaldo outstanding. Other names are Maradona, Pele, Beckenbauer or Eusebio.
athletes get better every generation as the overall skill level, and the population base climbs . look at swimming , or track and field times if you dont believe it ! messi is the best player now , and has been for well more than a decade . no offense to Pele (RIP), Maradona,Cruyff, Ronaldinho and all the others, but he is clearly the GOAT.
I don't think Messi is better than Maradona. And I don't think he's in top 3 either. I'd put him in top 20. And I can name several players in higher positions: Pele, Maradona, Cruyff, Beckenbauer, Ronaldo, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lev Yashin, Ronaldinho, Puskas. One think to consider: would Messi survive (I'm not talking about winning twice) the defenders in Serie A's late 90's? I respect Messi for being a great player but putting him in top 3 in history doesn't sound serious for me.
