Legendary manager Jose Mourinho has snubbed Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo and named the best player he had ever seen on the football pitch.

Messi and Ronaldo are widely regarded as two of the greatest footballers of all time, dominating football since 2008, breaking all records and creating new ones.

They have won a combined 13 Ballon d'Or between them, with only three players: Luka Modric, Karim Benzema and Rodri, the only other players to win it since 2008.

Messi edges Ronaldo in the debate on who the greatest among the two is after leading Argentina to the 2022 FIFA World Cup triumph in Qatar and has three more golden balls.

Regardless, the debate on who the greatest is continues to rage on with current and past football professionals picking sides while a few others have remained neutral.

When Mourinho named the best ever player

Fenerbahce head coach Jose Mourinho is never shy of controversies, and during an interview in 2019 threw a spark into the debate on who the greatest player of all time is.

The Special One picked Brazilian legend Ronaldo as the best he has ever seen play football, even though he acknowledged the longevity of Messi and Ronaldo at the top.

“Ronaldo Nazario, something incredible. That is the best football player I have ever seen on a pitch,” he said during a live session with LiveScore.

Throwback to Jose Mourinho telling us about the best player he's ever seen live 🪄😳 pic.twitter.com/doSDbw2BCl

— LiveScore (@livescore) September 10, 2023

“I think injuries killed a career that could have been even more incredible, but the talent that that 19-year-old boy had was something incredible.”

“Not with a career like Cristiano, Messi, 15 years at the top, top, top, top, top every day, but the natural talent, incredible, incredible player.”

El Fenomeno, as he was fondly referred to, even though he was troubled by injuries, played for some of the best clubs, including rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid, and AC Milan and Inter Milan.

As noted by Transfermarkt, his career spanned 18 years, and he played 446 games, an average of 25 games per year or two games per month, underlining how much he struggled with injuries in his career.

He won a trophy with every club he played for except AC Milan, but he never won the UEFA Champions League despite playing for five clubs that won the competition.

Despite his struggles with injury, he won the Ballon d'Or twice in his career, in 1997 and 2002.