Ronaldinho named current Premier League flop who he thought would become world's best player over Lionel Messi

Brazil legend Ronaldinho's prediction that a current Premier League player might eventually become one of the best in the world and rival former Barcelona team-mate Lionel Messi appears to ultimately have turned out to be wide of the mark.

The now retired attacker was one of the best players in the world during the mid-2000s in a fondly remembered spell at Barcelona, where he rubbed shoulders with a then teenage Messi.

Ronaldinho came through the youth team ranks Gremio in his native Brazil before switching to Paris Saint-Germain in 2001.

After two years in the French capital, Ronaldinho swapped the Parc des Princes for the Camp Nou which culminated in him winning the Ballon d'Or in 2005.

The flamboyant Brazilian won two La Liga titles and the Champions League crown at Barcelona before moving on to AC Milan in 2008, before closing his playing career with spells at Flamengo, Atletico Mineiro, Queretaro and Fluminense before retiring in 2015.

Ronaldinho's time at Barcelona coincided with the emergence of Messi after the Argentine progressed through the Catalan club's La Masia academy.

Messi made his Barca debut in 2004 and the rest has turned out to be history with the Argentina international going on to win eight Ballon d'Or crowns and has cemented his legacy as the GOAT in football.

Ronaldinho and Lionel Messi. (Image: Getty)

Messi and rival Cristiano Ronaldo went on to dominate world football for the best part of 15 years after Ronaldinho's career started to decline from its lofty height.

Both Ronaldo and Messi are still playing, with the former at Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League and Messi at Inter Miami in the MLS.

Messi will play overnight as Inter Miami take on Mexican side Necaxa in the Leagues Cup, which features sides from the United States, Canada and Mexico.

And Ronaldinho once believed there was another player who could go on to better Messi and become the next best player in the world, and that man now plies his trade at the Emirates Stadium.

Gabriel Jesus joined Manchester City in 2017 from Palmeiras, going on to win four Premier League titles, the FA Cup and three League Cups at the Etihad Stadium club.

Jesus made the move to Arsenal in the summer of 2022 for a reported £45m, and has gone on to score 26 goals in 96 games so far for the Gunners, but has not hit the heights many would have expected him to and suffered an ACL injury in January which ruled him out of action for the second half of last season.

Talking back in 2017 not long after Jesus had joined City, Ronaldinho believed his countryman had the potential to become the best in the world.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror, via Sky Sports, he said: "Manchester City have a very special player with Gabriel Jesus. Maybe even, in the future, the best player in the world.

"At the moment, it is Messi. I have always said I think one day it will be Neymar. But at 19, in the future, it can be Gabriel. He has all the abilities to make that happen."

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