Cristiano Ronaldo has already 'won battle' with Lionel Messi to be called the GOAT claims former Premier League player

Cristiano Ronaldo is a "more complete" player than Lionel Messi, according to a former Premier League midfielder, who has explained the difference between both players.

It's one of the most debated topics in recent memory. Who is football's 'greatest of all time'?

Is it Cristiano Ronaldo, the former Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus forward who holds the record for most club goals of all time and most international goals of all time.

Or is it Lionel Messi, the former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain forward with eight Ballon d'Ors, six European golden boots and three International golden balls to his name.

The topic continues to divide fans, but former Spurs, Portsmouth and Rangers midfielder Pedro Mandes has backed Ronaldo.

In fact, when speaking to OLBG, the 45-year-old explained why he ranks Portugal's all-time top scorer above Messi in the GOAT debate – and it will no doubt spark debate.

"I think we have witnessed the two greatest players of all time in the game, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi," Mendes says,

"For years and years they competed at the highest level and have done fantastic things on the pitch, both of them are incredible.

"The debate always comes down to who you like more as a player. Cristiano Ronaldo is the more complete player, he proved he could win La Liga, the Premier League and Serie A and was the top scorer in all of them - for me that is a huge thing to do.

"Between him and Messi, Ronaldo wins that battle. Messi of course is a fantastic technical player, but we only saw him playing outside Spain for two years in France towards the end of his career and only now in MLS.

"So we never knew how we would do in England in the Premier League where it is far more aggressive with more tackles, where Ronaldo did fantastically.

"In that debate there is a lot of controversy and opinion, but Ronaldo is a more complete player than Messi."

Image credit: Getty

Mendes, a former Portugal international, also opened up on a challenge that is widely considered to be one of the worst in Premier League history.

Back in 2006, Manchester City’s clash with Portsmouth was marred when Ben Thatcher caught Mendes with a vicious elbow.

Greater Manchester Police even received a number of complaints from the public over Thatcher’s tackle.

"I woke up in hospital after the Ben Thatcher challenge, but luckily the worst thing I felt afterwards was just being unsettled, as well as some pains. It took me a couple of games to actually start playing properly again," he says.

"The main thing for me is worrying about my future, I fear that the injury could lead to more incidents or injuries in the brain. I know the game can be aggressive but what he did was illegal.

"The most important thing for me was to put it behind me or I'd never have been able to play the game again. I’d have been afraid to go into a challenge, afraid to tackle, I had to reset and keep moving forward."