Lionel Messi, the modern footballing phenomenon

For the past few years, the world has been split as to who the best player in the world is, Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi, for me the decision is a dead cert. Lionel Messi is and has been for a while now, the best player in the world and at the tender age of just 24, people are mooting him as one of the best players ever. He has an 18 trophy haul already and has also broken many records and looks set to break many more. Earlier this year he won his third Ballon d'Or trophy which has equaled the record held by Michel Platini, Johan Cruyff and Marco Van Basten, all this and I will reiterate the fact he is still just 24. He's scored in all six competitions he has played in. Since making his first appearance in 2005 at the Nou Camp he has netted 228 goals and 93 assists, he has also netted 188 goals in his last 201 games since Pep Guardiola took over as Barcelona manager.

There's no doubt in anyone's mind that Messi is already a Barcelona club legend and is probably already on his way to being their best player ever (and maybe even the best player ever in general) but in order to become a legend he will need to achieve international success like so many other footballing legends have managed. The difference between Messi and the likes of Maradona and Pele are the fact that Maradona and Pele managed to win international trophies with their respective countries, Maradona even pretty much won the 1986 World Cup for Argentina single-handedly. Now if Messi can replicate his club form with his country like he has so often been criticised for not doing before and help them win the World Cup, there will be no doubting even off his sternest critics that he can be the best player ever. Despite his short comings in major international competitions, Messi is the Argentina captain and has still scored 22 goals in 67 internationals and is 12 short of Diego Maradona's total and he is well on his way to catching Argentina's record goalscorer Gabriel Batistuta, who has 56 goals.

In the Champions League, Messi is the record scorer in Champions League knockout games with 24 goals, he is also on 49 goals in the Champions League, putting him joint-fourth highest ever scorer in the competition, level with Real Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stefano, behind only Thierry Henry, Ruud Van Nistelrooy and top scorer Raul, whose record currently stands at 71 goals. After his five goal haul against Bayer Leverkusen last week he became the first man ever to score five goals in a single Champions League game, it was his third hat-trick which equals the record held by Filippo Inzaghi. He also has potentially 5 games to set a new Champions League scoring record in a season, he drew level with Ruud Van Nistelrooy's 2002-2003 total of 12 goals with his five-goal performance against Bayer an has managed this feat in 10 games.

Messi's season-best total for Barcelona is the 53 goals he netted last season to tie with Ballon d'Or rival Cristiano Ronaldo in all competitions. He has 53 goals this season for club and country with a potential 19 more games to play. His 228 goals means he is just seven short of Cesar Rodriguez's all-time record for Barcelona which stands at 235. Of the diminutive Argentine's 93 assists, 70 of them have come in the past four seasons and he already has 20 this season.

These statistics show you that Messi is no doubt the best player in the world, not only does he have a trophy haul that already people would be jealous of but he can not only score goals and set them up with his unselfish play but he is a modern footballing genius. Barcelona's decision to sign the Argentinian forward by paying for his growth hormone treatment (because even back then he was tiny, bless him) and moving his father to Spain with him seems justified. It's staggering to know that to see what Messi has become today Barcelona didn't even pay a transfer fee for him, they just paid £900 a month for his medical bills. At the moment Barcelona are the envy of the footballing world with their slick play and dominant style in games and Lionel Messi is and will be the jewel in their crown for a long time to come, he doesn't look to be going anywhere after committing himself to Barcelona and saying he wants to stay there for the rest of his career. I'm not sure there is anyone who will be able to stop him from breaking any targets he sets himself and the world is still at his feet.