As the football careers of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are ending, the conversation about GOAT status is becoming more and more frequent. Chelsea and American superstar Christian Pulisic was the latest to weigh in on the debate.
In an in-depth interview with ESPN, the topic of Messi came up on two separate occasions as the 24-year-old shared his thoughts as to why many were happy to see Messi lift the 2022 FIFA World Cup trophy in Qatar.
“The reason everyone is so happy for Lionel Messi [winning the World Cup] is because they’ve seen him at his lows when everyone says he’s never going to do it,” Pulisic told ESPN’s Graham Hunter. “The great ones are able to stay very balanced, be strong mentally and know that they’re going to overcome this.”
Furthermore, Pulisic didn’t hesitate to put the Paris Saint-Germain forward in the GOAT status despite the Argentine still having a few years left in his football career.
“I think there are very few athletes that have that GOAT status, who could absolutely be brought up in a conversation,” Pulisic continued. “Tiger Woods is one of them and Messi is absolutely there. As I said, with a very fitting end to an incredible career [after winning the World Cup in Qatar 2022].″
"Very few athletes have the GOAT status – Messi is one of them." 🐐
Christian Pulisic says Messi is one of the greatest athletes of all-time 🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/Z4brp92iGR
— ESPN UK (@ESPNUK) March 24, 2023
Messi deserves the praise for what he’s done in the game but now that he’s turning 36 this summer and PSG has decided whether they want to pay for what Messi has done in the past.
With the depth needed on the squad to compete in all three competitions, the French giants might be better served to use Messi’s wages to land two or three players.
