Back in 2020, former England star Joleon Lescott made a bold claim, comparing Raheem Sterling to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Sterling was still at Manchester City at the time, where he was a consistent part of their attack. He ended up playing 339 games for the Cityzens, scoring 131 goals and providing 73 assists in all competitions.
That particular season, the winger was impressive, scoring 14 goals in 29 Premier League games. This saw Lescott shower Sterling with praise, comparing him to two of the greatest players in the world. Speaking on Manchester City’s matchday show We’re Not Really Here, Lescott said about Sterling (via GOAL):
“Raheem has taken himself to the top tier now, He has to be regarded as one of the top wide players or forwards in the game because he contributes. He has the ability to play well and win man of the match and not score and then on other occasions he just scores and impacts the game that way.”
The Former England defender went on to make a big claim about Sterling standing with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi:
“I think you have to be pretty naive to not respect what he’s doing. There are players like Messi and Ronaldo that are scoring 50 goals a season. They are super freaks! In terms of the next tier, Raheem has to be compared to those kinds of players.”
Raheem Sterling has since left Manchester City for Chelsea in the summer of 2022. He has spent two years at the west London club, but has been deemed surplus to requirements by Blues manager Enzo Maresca. This saw him accept a loan move to Arsenal, where he will hope to impress this season.
Angel Di Maria chooses between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi
It is fair to say that, four years on, Raheem Sterling has not hit the heights Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo reached before they turned 30. The debate of the greatest of all time, however, remains focused on the duo, who remain two of the best players the world has ever seen.
Angel Di Maria, who has played with the two legends, opened up on why Lionel Messi is better than Cristiano Ronaldo. The Argentine World Cup winner said (via Mirror):
“At the end of the day, the best player is the one with the most Ballon d’Or awards, and Leo has eight. So for me, there’s a certain gap between him and Cristiano.”
While Ronaldo fans won’t be too pleased about this, the Portuguese superstar only has five Ballons d’Or, which is, in itself, a huge achievement. However, Messi’s record of eight is unprecedented and unlikely to ever happen again in history.
