Barcelona star Lionel Messi may be widely acknowledged as the world’s best player at the moment, but Ghana legend Mohammed ‘Polo’ Ahmed believes that during his playing days he was far better than the Argentina international forward.

Messi won FIFA World Player of the Year in 2009 and the Ballon d’Or in 2009 and 2010. The 23-year-old has also been regularly compared to Argentine legend Diego Maradona, with some even claiming that he will become a better player than El Diego.

However, Mohammed ‘Polo’ Ahmed, who is known as the ‘Dribbling Magician’ and is often regarded as the most technically gifted Ghanaian footballer ever, doesn’t buy the hype and says that at his prime he was better than Messi.

“Me for instance, I was such a good player on the ball [better] than even Lionel Messi,” ‘Polo’ is quoted as saying by Ghanasoccernet.com. “I could do many things with the ball that he cannot do now.

"I watch him play regularly and hear people saying he is the best footballer of all time but I disagree and hope most people who watched me will also do same.”

He added: “We tend to hype footballers too much nowadays and I can tell you if we had got this kind of hype during our time then Messi would have been nowhere near me.”

‘Polo’ was part of the Ghana national football team that won the 1978 African Nations Cup on home soil.