Ryan Giggs, a former Manchester United teammate of the Portuguese football ace, believes that Cristiano Ronaldo's obsession with his rivalry with Lionel Messi had influenced his latest career move, adding fuel to the everlasting debate over who's the best player of all time.
"I'm surprised that he would leave Real Madrid and go to Italy," Giggs told ITV Sport.
READ MORE: Twitter Explodes as Real Madrid Legend Cristiano Ronaldo Signs for Juventus
While calling the move to Serie A "a big challenge" for Cristiano, Ryan Giggs admitted that now he can boast quite an impressive CV with Real Madrid, Man United, and Juventus on it.
"He's obsessed with being better than Messi. He has that now, that, 'I did it in England, I did it in Spain, I'm going to do it in Italy… I did it with Portugal.'"
"So maybe that will be his argument when [he asks himself]: 'Am I better than Messi?'" Giggs suggested.
The hint ignited a row between Ronaldo and Messi fans on Twitter.
@officialgiggs they are doing it 7 years in a row and messi won 6 liga when ronaldo was in la liga
— Umid Hacizade (@leo_umid) 12 июля 2018 г.
It doesn't matter if he plays in 10 different countries before retiring. Messi is simply BETTER than him and there's absolutely NOTHING he or anyone can do about it.
— Abuah C.E (@ChalsAbuah) 12 июля 2018 г.
O_o right, the years where he is outclassing Messi in every way…. Get of the bottle Giggs
— FR (@Geek_Fred) 11 июля 2018 г.
It’s obvious. Sir Giggs just stating the obvious and truth
— TBG (@RealOgirima) 11 июля 2018 г.
This argument that Ronaldo winning in different leagues makes him better than Messi is asinine. Ronaldo didn't win the Premier League with Fulham or Liga with Real Betis. He was at Man. U and Real Madrid. Now Juventus. If Messi was on those teams they wouldn't have won?
— asdfadsf (@johntreebeard20) 11 июля 2018 г.
The fact that he has to fight for who's better, shows who's better:D
— Rinesh Varghese (@kappilrinesh) 12 июля 2018 г.
And anyways Messi doesn't care, he plays football for the joy it gives him and for winning it for the team. That is why I love him — his passion for the beautiful game.
On Tuesday, Real Madrid announced a $123.24 million transfer of its legend Cristiano Ronaldo to Italian champions Juventus.
With 450 goals in 438 appearances, Ronaldo is Real Madrid's all-time top scorer. The 33-year-old helped the Spanish giant claim two La Liga titles and four Champions League trophies.
His eternal battle with Argentine icon Lionel Messi, who is playing for Real Madrid's bitter rival, Barcelona, has seen them each win the Ballon d'Or five times in the last 10 years.