Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has hailed Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi as the world’s best players and claims that there isn’t anyone out there ready to challenge them for that title yet, the Daily Mirror reports.
And though he also cited Barcelona star Neymar as a special talent, he decreed that their status as the world’s greatest wouldn’t be coming under threat from anybody any time soon.
Ferguson admitted that he is a fan of the Brazilian, but has so far failed to justify the hype that continues to surround him for club and country.
“You’ll always look at clubs like Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester United to produce that kind of player you’re talking about,” he said.
“But to be honest I’m not sure there’s one sticking out at the moment. The boy Neymar gets a lot of publicity about the potential he’s got, but I think that’s still to be seen, still to be fulfilled.
“Certainly, most people I speak to speak highly of the boy. When I had Anderson at United, he spoke volumes about the boy’s ability.
“So hopefully he’ll be the next one who’ll produce the type of talent we see in Messi and Ronaldo.”
And in a rare show of praise for another coach, Ferguson highlighted Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti – who is being lined up as a possible replacement for Manuel Pellegrini at Manchester City – as one of the world’s greatest coaches.
Ancelotti is said to be under an enormous amount of pressure at the Bernabeu at the moment, but Ferguson feels that he would have no problem finding another job should he be moved on soon.
“I think these types of jobs are difficult, particularly if there are elections coming up.
“Real Madrid and Barcelona have elections every third year I think it is.
“It doesn’t matter who the manager is. The election for a new president will be based on the success of the football team and what player he can buy and what coach he is going to sack.
“There’s no doubt it works that way, but I don’t think Carlo is under pressure. He probably is, because, as you know, of the dynamics of that kind of football club.
“But, for me, Carlo is one of the best coaches I’ve ever come across and one of my biggest opponents, so I wouldn’t worry about his future, that’s for sure.”