Mikel Arteta settles the Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo GOAT debate once and for all

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has settled the Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo GOAT debate once and for all.

Over the years, both Messi and Ronaldo have been performing at the highest levels of world football.

After the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, many fans felt Messi became the undisputed GOAT of football after he inspired Argentina to glory.

However, Ronaldo fans will always back their Portuguese hero as the debate will forever continue.

Speaking recently to Sky Sports, Arteta was full of praise for Messi when he was asked about his favourite footballer to watch.

He said: “It's always been Lionel Messi. For my 3 sons it's exactly the same. We have been really lucky to have the opportunity to experience the best player of all time. For me, he is the greatest of all time.”

Arteta is currently trying to guide the Gunners to the top of English football after missing out on the Premier League title last season.

However, his Premier League dream took a knock on Sunday afternoon after they fell to a 2-0 defeat against Aston Villa.

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Speaking after the match, he said: “We had one of the best performances in the first half that we had this season by far against a really good team, it should have been three or four or more. It didn’t happen in the second half, momentum shifted, we could not control and generate what we did in the first half.

“We struggled, we conceded two very poor goals and we lost the game so congratulations to the opponent and now is the moment to stand up as a leader, as a character to make yourself count because when you win and win and win and win for four months, it’s very simple to do it. The moment is now.”

Arteta added: “We don’t have any other solutions, if you want to win championships, if you want to be there in the Champions League when you have these moments, you have to stand up. If not then that means you don’t have quality that is very necessary and right now is a big test for us.”

Arsenal will be back in action on Wednesday night when they take on Bayern Munich in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final clash.