Barcelona Chief Shocks Football World by Overlooking Messi When Naming His Greatest Teammate

Deco, Barcelona's present sporting director and former central midfielder, has clarified his reasoning for selecting Ronaldinho over Lionel Messi as his greatest career teammate, despite acknowledging the Argentine genius as "the most well-rounded player."

Prior to taking charge of the club's challenging financial situation, Deco dedicated four campaigns orchestrating play from midfield for Barcelona. Throughout 161 matches for the Spanish powerhouse during a transformative era, the ex-Portugal star experienced the triumph of the 2006 Champions League victory and the disappointments that led Pep Guardiola to release him from the squad two years afterward.

Not long after Deco departed José Mourinho's European champion Porto to sign with Barcelona in summer 2004, Frank Rijkaard gave a slight Argentine winger his first-team opportunity. The quiet youngster who could barely communicate would eventually establish himself as potentially the finest footballer ever, though according to Deco's memory, the squad's main attraction was a different South American talent.

When asked to select between Messi, his well-known competitor Cristiano Ronaldo, and Ronaldinho in a conversation with Romário, Deco reflected: "I shared the field with early-career Messi and early-career Cristiano. If forced to pick, I'd go with Ronaldinho. Among my former teammates, Ronaldinho stood out as the finest. His technical skills were incredible! He performed extraordinary feats."

The Brazil-born playmaker ensured to mention: "The most well-rounded talent I've shared the pitch with is Messi."

Deco experienced significantly more chances to witness Ronaldinho's distinctive style of playful brilliance throughout his four-season tenure at Barcelona, featuring in over 130 games with the legendary attacker versus his 79 appearances alongside a young Messi. From 2004 to 2008, few could dispute that any footballer could rival Ronaldinho's pure ability.

The 2005 Ballon d'Or recipient, nevertheless, recognized Messi's extraordinary gift from the beginning. "He deserves to be competing with the first team now," Ronaldinho informed journalists following Messi's initial practice with the senior squad. It was the flexible Brazilian who assisted his young colleague's debut goal. After what would eventually be acknowledged as a pivotal moment, Ronaldinho forecasted: "He will surpass all of us."

Using the simple metric of scoring, Messi exceeded the joint total output of Deco and Ronaldinho (355) before reaching age 26.