Lionel Messi has once again won the Ballon d’Or and in doing so, has become only the second player ever to capture the award three times.  Messi’s triumph has provoked much debate as to where he now ranks in the pantheon of the worlds greatest ever players.

Michelle Platini is the only other player to have won the award three times, but to gauge who might be ‘the best ever’ we must obviously look beyond the Ballon d’Or.  Until 1995 the award was only applicable to European players at European clubs, so the likes of Pele and Maradona are often brought into comparison by highlighting their success with regards international trophies.

For some pundits, lifting the World Cup is the benchmark of greatness; Maradona drove Argentina to World Cup success in ’86 through sheer force of character and skill.  Messi is still to achieve this honour but he is only 24 years old (potentially 3 or 4 years away from his peak).  Brazil 2014 could be the event to cement his place in history.

It nearly goes without saying that football has changed since the ‘80s.  The World Cup is still the most prestigious tournament in the world but the Champions League offers the highest standard of football; Messi has won 3 Champions League titles already.

In the past a first class striker might have scored around 1 goal every 1.5 games.  Messi’s goal-scoring record for Barcelona speaks volumes: 2009-10, 47 goals in 53 appearances; 2010-11, 53 goals in 55 appearances; 2011-12, 31 goals in 28 appearances so far…

This means Messi has developed a pretty solid ‘goal per game’ ratio as a player who isn’t an out-and-out striker.

Messi bears an uncanny resemblance to Maradona when on the ball, probing the ball forward with the outside of his foot, ready to go either way, gliding through defences with the ball practically under his shins, making him near impossible to dispossess.  He may not be as flamboyant as a Ronaldinho or even a Cristiano Ronaldo but this isn’t to his detriment.

This extends to his personal life, of which we know relatively little.  He is a footballer who isn’t necessarily a celebrity in the modern sense – the mark of a man who puts perfecting his trade above seeking the limelight.

In Lionel Messi we have the rare opportunity to witness a legend in our times, a once in a generation talent whose legacy will become ever more apparent in coming years.