Lionel Messi: The Best There Is, May Be Not The Best There Was, Perhaps The Best There Ever Will Be

Messi Becomes Barcelona’s Greatest

On top of the world

So who’s the world’s greatest player ever? Is it Edson Arantes do Nascimento alias Pele, Diego Armando Maradona, or Lionel Andres Messi? You might as well hold your opinion dear because it’s a given that the person sitting next to you will disagree with your choice.

But who’s Barcelona’s best there is, best there was, and best there ever will be? There can only be one. Let’s say it in chorus: LIONEL MESSI. Any dissenting voices? NONE. Well, that’s what I thought.

Will Barcelona ever find a player like Lionel Mess? May be. But you can safely bet that will take a generation, or two.

The sparkly Argentine is officially the club’s all-time goalscorer at only 24 years having netted a jaw-dropping 234 goals to surpass the 232 mark set by former Spain international Cesar Rodriguez between 1939 and 1955.

Heading into the Catalan club’s clash with Granada on Tuesday night, the diminutive Rosario-born forward needed only one goal to draw level with Rodriguez. But at the end of 90 minutes, he had netted a hat-trick in a nervous 5-3 win over the Andalusian club to make him the club’s all-time goalscorer with 234 goals.

His first came 17 minutes into the match with a half-volley which rebounded off the post and into the net. That goal leveled him with Rodriguez. The record breaker came in the 67^th minute when the Barca No. 10 lobbed Granada custodian Julio Cesar to make it 3-2 to the Blaugrana who had surrendered a 2-0 lead and were drawing 2-2. That was also the goal that pulled him ahead of Cesar Rodriguez with 233 strikes.

But Messi was not done yet. The icing on the cake came with a stunning piledriver four minutes before the final whistle. A perfect hat-trick from a perfect player.  

So from a humble journey that started with his first ever goal for Barca at senior level against Albacete in 2005, the man considered the finest in his generation had topped all the greats the Blaugrana have ever had on March 20 2012 by age 24. 

It has been well over half a century since someone scored as many as 232 goals for the Catalan club. But what Cesar Rodriguez did during a 16-year spell at the Catalan club between 1939 and 1955 took Messi only six years to surpass.

The Argentine declared that he would like to finish his career at the Camp Nou-based club – the worst news that any would-be successors (if any) of the prodigy would want to hear.

But who says there will be another Lionel Messi at Barcelona anyway? Or even someone quite as close? That would take decades, may be a century and beyond. Because by the time he’s done, 234 may be 432, or more. The great Pele says he's scored 1,000 goals in his career.Don't challenge Messi to surpass that. He might just do it.

By the way, let’s get back to that debate. Who’s the greatest player of all time? Vote for your choice on the right handside of your screen. I think Messi is the best there is, may be not the best there was, but perhaps also the best there ever will be. Makes sense huh. 

And That's thesteifmastertake!!