Pep Guardiola named the six great 'eternal' players in football history including Lionel Messi

Pep Guardiola has named who he thinks are the six greatest players of all time, and of course, he included Lionel Messi.

Guardiola, 53, has managed some of the best players in the world during his spells at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City.

The Spaniard is commonly associated with his ability to improve players, with the example of Raheem Sterling at Man City springing to mind.

In his 292 games under Guardiola’s tutelage, he scored 120 times, as well as providing 65 assists.

Before this, there were question marks surrounding his ability to score goals.

Throughout his career, as well as improving players, he has managed naturally world-class footballers such as Kevin De Bruyne, Thierry Henry, and Erling Haaland.

But he chose five ‘eternal’ players to go alongside Messi with none of his current Man City stars getting a mention when naming his 'top six' players.

“I never pretend to be Pele, honestly,” said Guardiola in a press conference following the Brazilian’s death in 2022.

“I never saw him play, I spoke with people who said he was the greatest for them.

“What he has done, not just winning three World Cups, the goals and he was a new thing when he came up.”

Pele spent over two decades at Brazil-based side Santos before spending two years at the New York Cosmos. But he was best known for his impeccable performances that helped Brazil win the 1958, 1962 and 1970 World Cups.

“I was not born when he was playing. It's like a good movie, the legacy that we're still talking about him, about a good movie, a good book, because he was so good.”

Pep Guardiola has managed several world-class players (Credit:Getty)

“Pele, [Diego] Maradona, [Johan] Cruyff, [Lionel] Messi, [Franz] Beckenbauer, Cristiano Ronaldo, these players will be eternal,” he added.

Ronaldo and Guardiola have never worked together, but the Portuguese was heavily linked with a move to Guardiola’s Man City in 2021, with the five-time Ballon d’Or winner admitting a move was “close” in an interview with Piers Morgan Uncensored in 2022.

As for Maradona and Beckenbauer, they were both fantastic footballers who would arguably stand out in most generations - including the modern-day game. Pep never crossed paths with either in a coaching sense, but the German was honorary president at Bayern during Guardiola’s tenure so they may have had contact at some point.

Like Guardiola and Messi, Cryuff spent a huge chunk of his career at Barcelona as a player and manager – handing Guardiola his Barca debut in 1990.

“They have done many things for many years, these types of players make our business, our job, a better place," the 53-year-old added.

"What he produced for the feeling for the people.

“We have seen the World Cup, one team can produce for a country, it's incredible. It's not another event can produce this emotion. This part of exceptional players can produce the emotion for the players.”