Argentine great Humberto Maschio is adamant Leo Messi is the best the world has seen.

The 87-year-old has made clear that despite having watched Alfredo Di Stefano, Pele, Diego Maradona and Johan Cruyff, he believes Messi is the best ever.

"I saw Di Stefano, Pele, Maradona and Cruyff, but the best is Messi," Maschio explained in an interview with Clarin.

"I saw all those greats and played against some of them, but for me Leo is the best of all.

"The speed of football at the time of those players was slowly, they were still geniuses and huge players in their own eras, but just analyse Messi's goals, he doesn't run much on the pitch but when he does he has the great ability to keep the ball stuck to his feet, it's fantastic."