“Cristiano Ronaldo is nowhere near the level of Lionel Messi”—hopefully, you recognize who made this statement. If not, it was none other than Jamie Carragher. The Liverpool legend-turned-soccer analyst has always been a controversial figure in one of the most heated and passionate ‘GOAT debates. However, today, CR7 fans have a reason not to dislike Carragher, as the pundit has offered a shocking perspective on the Portuguese superstar that has left many more surprised than impressed.

To provide some context, it all began when former English midfielder Jamie Carragher participated in a rapid-fire segment of Sky Bet’s The Overlap, a show he co-hosts, on its social media page. When asked to name the current best and the greatest players in history from each position, Carragher started with the goalkeeper category, naming Thibaut Courtois as the current best and Neville Southall as the best ever. Then, he identified Virgil van Dijk as the current best defender, with Franco Baresi earning the title of the best defender of all time.

For midfielders, Carragher chose Rodri as the current best—thanks to the Spaniard’s recent Ballon d’Or win—and Steven Gerrard as the best ever. When it came to strikers, he selected Erling Haaland as the current best. Despite being torn between Ronaldo Nazário and Marco van Basten, he ultimately chose the Dutch icon as the greatest striker of all time. However, what caught many off guard was when the discussion shifted to wingers.

In choosing Vinícius Jr. as the current best, he named, wait for it, none other than Cristiano Ronaldo as “the greatest winger of all time“. This admission from Carragher was enough to send the soccer world into a frenzy, especially among some ardent CR7 fans!

Cristiano Ronaldo fans side with Jamie Carragher despite his prior controversial take on GOAT debate

Mind you, if you think he did this easily, you’re mistaken. For a man who admires Lionel Messi like no other, one can imagine what Jamie Carragher must have been thinking. In fact, he even asked the interviewer in a state of disbelief and confusion, “Oh my god…Who else have you done this with?”

In the end, after doing so much of ‘puff’ and ‘ouff‘, he finally said what you heard in hesitation and exasperation. Nevertheless, hearing this left this netizen in disbelief, as he rather seems unprepared to accept alongside others that Carragher chose Ronaldo’s name over Messi’s: “Bro flipped.” Are you sure?

Because Jamie really said this last year, “Ronaldo is one of the greatest goalscorers of all time, Messi is the greatest player of all time, it’s not even close. Ronaldo scored goals, Messi scored goals and was an unbelievable player.” 

Another comment read, “A typical Messi fan saying Cristiano is the best winger. WTF”

Well, then Carragher must be the first Messi fan whom La Pulga himself called a “donkey”!

Sure, it’s not just about the Ronaldo comment, as Carragher answered the other questions quite brilliantly. Then again, all those answers aren’t the main talking point here as this fan is impressed with the former Reds superstar’s revised understanding regarding the beautiful game:

“Bro has updated his ball knowledge”

Mission passed: respect +, yes, GTA pun indented but Jamie seems to have finally earned the admiration of fans, especially the Ronaldo ones, who used to be against the Scouser. At least, this netizen has joined Carra’s fan club:

“Starting to like this guy 😂”

Something about being a soccer analyst or a pundit is that no matter what your opinion is, fans will have some kind of discord against them. Certainly, Carragher has been no stranger to criticism from fans but this time he has earned respect. Then again, with that, comes a little bit of surprise:

“No way, Carra is having this opinion 👏”

Well, this was just a glimpse of what you saw. The rest were enough to praise Jamie Carragher’s responses. However, we would like to know your thoughts on the same in the comments.