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CREME DE LA CREME . . . Brazil soccer legend Pele (right) still believes Cristiano Ronaldo is the best player in the world and better than Lionel Messi

PARIS. — Cristiano Ronaldo is the best player in world football says Pele, who insists the Portuguese would be his first pick over Lionel Messi if he were a manager.

Pele ambles into the room with the assistance of a walking stick, but while his body lacks the sharpness of his peak, the great Brazilian’s mind is as keen as ever.

The operation he had in December to repair his replacement hip has slowed him to a steady walk and those famous overhead kicks and dazzling tricks are a thing of the past, but Pele still gets excitement from talking about football’s greats.

He is quick to assert that Cristiano Ronaldo is the No. 1 player in the world, yet he can also reel off 10 names in as many seconds who competed for that title in the past and is saddened that the debate these days is only between the Portuguese and Lionel Messi and has been for some years.

Pele counts on his fingers as he goes. “George Best, Bobby Moore, Jairzinho, Bobby Charlton, Pele, Zico, Beckenbauer, Cruyff, Zidane, Maradona. Now you say Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi — Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi. It’s not too good for football.

“At the moment the best player in the world is Ronaldo. I admire him, if I had to set up a national team he would be my first pick. But in the meantime I feel sorry because today and the last five years, you just mention two big stars. Some years ago, you had a lot of players.”

He chuckles at the memory of presenting Ronaldo with his Ballon d’Or three years ago, recalling the occasion as if it was an honour.

As he talks, the 75-year-old is surrounded by 2 000 items which define his career and his life that he has put up for sale — including his three World Cup winner’s medals — with Julien’s Auctions.

These items verify his place on that list, but having answered countless questions about them for hours before sitting down with Sportsmail, there is a hint of relief in his eyes to be discussing such a wonderful contemporary footballer.

Ronaldo reminds Pele of Ronaldo — the Brazilian one.

The one who terrified defenders with his pace and aggression and relentless pursuit of goals. In the modern age, everyone is obsessed with comparison.

Who is better than whom? Yet, for a brilliant football mind such as Pele, it is more complex. He cannot compare himself or Diego Maradona with Cristiano Ronaldo due to the difference in era, but more importantly their different roles.

“Maradona, myself, it’s a little bit different than him,” he explains.

“Cristiano is higher up the pitch, more central, more direct, more for scoring.

But what is important is he is a player who decides the game. He is a player who scores goals.

That’s the same. But we cannot compare Pele and Maradona with Cristiano because we were players who came from behind. We played deeper. He plays in front. He’s more like (the Brazilian) Ronaldo. This you can compare.

“It’s the same with Messi. They are two players with completely different styles. Messi is playing more from midfield, he is an excellent player and passer. But Ronaldo is more forward, the No. 9, the striker. He has a different style to Messi.”

Ronaldo arrived at the European Championship with Portugal as the tournament’s best player in Pele’s eyes and those of many neutrals.

For this brief period, there is no comparison to the Argentinian Messi, whose name has been a constant — often overshadowing presence — alongside his for almost a decade.

Pele identifies greatness in players who can sustain excellence over a long period, like Messi and Ronaldo. Before these two, the last great player, for him, was Zinedine Zidane.

Without Messi, Ronaldo would have dominated world football for almost a decade. And vice versa. They have shared the World Player of the Year title in its various forms for eight years, since Kaka won in 2007.

Ronaldo is 31 and Messi 28, and their days at the top are numbered. Gareth Bale (26) and Neymar (24) may rise in their place but, for Pele, there is still something missing.

He pulls Sportsmail in a little closer before explaining: “You have Bale and Neymar, but they are not enough. You used to have two or three players in one team who were stars. Now there are that many in the world. It’s a shame. The game deserves more great players.”

For many, winning major international tournaments, lifting European and World Cups mark greatness. But Pele does not place as much stock in that argument as others.

These tournaments come with a hefty slice of fortune as much as anything, he says, and feels winning the Champions League in our celebrity age has grown in importance, especially when it comes to the annual vote for the world’s best player.

“Ronaldo has to have some luck with him,” Pele adds.

“It doesn’t depend on him to win important tournaments and to be champions.

He has time — maybe the next World Cup he could be there. No doubt.”

Ronaldo will be 33 then and a few years closer — perhaps one day — to ambling into a room with a walking stick and talking about the great players of tomorrow. — Mailonline.