Manchester United manager and former Barcelona coach, Pep Guardiola, has said that Argentina star and latest World Cup winner, Lionel Messi, is the greatest footballer of all time.

In an interview seen on Sky Sports on Wednesday, Guardiola said Messi’s World Cup triumph confirms he’s the best footballer in history. He added that the World Cup win is the “final achievement of an incredible career” for Messi.

The coach admitted that even if Messi hadn’t won the World Cup he would still rate him as the best.

Guardiola also congratulated Argentine player Julian Alvarez, who is also a Manchester City player, saying “one of our own is a world champion,” as well as Nicolas Otamendi, who was also a former City player.

The Man City boss said, “Everyone has an opinion but nobody can doubt that he is there, with the greatest of all time. For Me, I said many times, he is the best, but it will be difficult to understand.

“A player can appear and compete with what he has done in the last 50 years to 70 years, but the people who saw Pele or Di Stefano or Maradona, they can say their favorite.

“In their opinions they are sentimental, you know? But on the other side, if he (Messi) had not won the World Cup, my opinion about what he has done for world football, wouldn’t have changed absolutely anything. Of course, for him, it’s the final achievement of an incredible career.

“Do you know why Messi is the best player I’ve ever seen in my life, because he is a competitor? He’s an animal.”

Congratulating Alvarez, Guardiola said, “We are incredibly happy for him (Alvarez), congratulations to him and Nicolas Otamendi, and personally to Lionel Messi.

“For Argentina as a country, they are a well-deserved champion. Julian, is with us and we are delighted because he played a lot.

“His contribution was amazing for the team and the way they played. We have a world champion in our team.”