Manchester United hero Cristiano Ronaldo told why he is better than Lionel Messi

Cristiano Ronaldo netted his 700th career club goal in Sunday’s win over Everton and has been receiving copious amounts of plaudits since. The superstar has started just one Premier League game this season with the attacker - who scored 24 times last season - seemingly being Erik ten Hag’s third choice forward behind Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford.

He has one goal in four Europa League games - a penalty against Sheriff - and failed to net against Omonia in 180 minutes. But his finish against Everton reminded everyone of the clinical nature he has possessed throughout his career.

The debate over whether it is the 37-year-old or Messi that is the greatest of all time will rage on forever, but when it comes to finishing, Paul Merson says there is only one winner.

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Hailing Ronaldo’s goal record on Sky Sports, he said: “He is one of the greatest players of all time. For me, he [ Ronaldo ] is the best finisher of all-time in my opinion. He has 700 goals, I mean if you score 700 goals on a Sunday morning that would take some doing.

“It has been hard. The team he plays in [ United ] and the way he plays it was always going to be a struggle and that is why it has been hard. The man is a legend.”

Ronaldo has featured in 11 games this season but was notably left out of the Manchester derby earlier this month. The veteran handed in a transfer request over the summer but was unable to orchestrate a move away as options away from Old Trafford dwindled as the window progressed.

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