Arguably the sport’s best-ever player has backed the Real Madrid man as the top footballer in the world at the moment.

The Real Madrid man was crowned the 2013 Ballon d’Or winner, beating his Barcelona four time winner into second place.

An argument over who the better of the two players is seems to continually be in the offing, but a heavy weight voice in the footballing community has thrown his backing behind Ronaldo.

Pele is arguably the best player to ever play the game, and spearheaded Brazil’s World Cup wins in 1962 and 1970.

The South American has revealed that he believes Ronaldo has overtaken Messi as the top player in the world.

“I think, no doubt, two years ago the player that was in very, very good condition was Messi,” Pele told the ESPN FC TV show.

“In five years he became the best player in Europe, but in the last two years, and this year, he had a problem: he got injured, he was out this year and he has played few games.

“Ronaldo has come through for the past two or three years and is the best in Europe. I think at the moment no doubt Ronaldo is the best player, but until now Messi was the best.

“Messi used to do the same thing as I used to do at Santos: to come from behind. Ronaldo used to play more upfront, so I think for me Ronaldo is more important because he is the player who scores goals from the front.

“I would have to compete with Messi because we have the same game and do the same [on the field]. I think Ronaldo, for Santos [in Pele’s time], would be better.”