Him becoming the best player in the world in 2008 and then continuing that sort of form until 2021 and beyond next to Messi is something we might never ever see again. His drive and ambition to win trophies over and over again, to score 40 goals every season and to generally keep being the best is truly inspirational for a young person like me. I mean, he’s just broken the all-time international goals record at 36 and still doesn’t want to retire from that just so he can have yet another go at the World Cup. It’s unbelievable.
Honestly, he became my favourite player the second his return was confirmed, and I love Bruno and Rashford.
While we would obviously still have many bigger legends, I think he would cement his place as football’s greatest ever player over Messi if he was to be the man who brought success back here. Proper success obviously, like Premier League and Champions League titles.
It would get him another Ballon D’or as well, which would be deserved even if he sat on the bench the whole year after the robbery of 2018. I just don’t see what Messi would have done to eclipse him by that point, and winning Ligue 1 definitely wouldn’t be it. He’s definitely doing his bit at the moment, but you can tell he’s fuming with us not even being in the top 4. It just shows his winning mentality, the way he instantly addressed the Everton draw as a loss.
If only he had stayed with us his whole career. There would be no bigger United legend aside from Fergie and Busby. A true freak of nature, and it’s disrespectful that people are already touting Haaland and Mbappe to succeed him. They’d do well to become half of what he is.