Ryan Giggs claims ‘magnificent player’ had even bigger ‘impact’ on him than Lionel Messi, his legend is truly unrivalled

Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs admitted that one football icon had the “biggest impact” on him ahead of former Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi.

Ryan Giggs had a remarkable playing career at Old Trafford and the Manchester United legend spent the large majority of his spell under Sir Alex Ferguson.

The 50-year-old United legend rose through the ranks of the youth academy and made a real name for himself after he broke into the first team in the 1990s.

One of the key success stories of the ‘Class of ’92,’ Giggs made a whopping 952 appearances for United during his illustrious playing career at Old Trafford.

During his time at the Red Devils, Giggs lifted 13 Premier League titles, two Champions League trophies, four FA Cups and four League Cups.

Giggs played for one season more after Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013 before he called it time on a glittering playing career in 2014.

Ryan Giggs shared the pitch with Lionel Messi towards the later stages of his career and saw first-hand the devastating impact that he can have on the pitch.

The former United star was on the losing side on both occasions against Messi in the Red Devils’ 2009 and 2011 Champions League final defeats to Barcelona.

Messi, who is with MLS side Inter Miami, is widely considered one of the best players of all time alongside the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Pele and Diego Maradona.

However, Giggs previously admitted that France legend Zinedine Zidane had a “big impact” on him ahead of Argentina and Barcelona icon Messi.

During his time as Wales manager, he recalled his encounter with Zinedine Zidane when the Frenchman was at Juventus and how he was simply “amazing.”

“Okay, the best player I played with is Cristiano Ronaldo. He’s the best player I have played with,” he said at a press conference in 2019, as per The Manchester Evening News.

“Best I have played against? Or who had the biggest impact on me was Zidane, when I first played against him, he was playing for Juventus and he was just amazing.

“I looked at him and thought, ‘I need to get to his level.’ He was huge, his touch was brilliant and he had great balance.

“I played against Messi as well, who is one of the greatest ever, but Zidane just had a big impact on me and was obviously a magnificent player as well.”

Ferguson could have signed Zidane for Man Utd

Former United chairman Martin Edwards revealed that Sir Alex Ferguson turned down the chance to bring Zinedine Zidane to Old Trafford in the 1990s.

Zidane, who is considered one of the best players of all time, was at French side Bordeaux before he completed a stunning move to Serie A side Juventus in 1996.

According to Martin Edwards, Ferguson opted not to move for Real Madrid legend Zidane because he didn’t want to “upset” United icon Eric Cantona.

“Zidane and Eric played in the same position and Alex felt if they brought Zidane in it would have upset Eric,” Edwards told BBC Radio 5 Live in 2017, as per The Daily Mirror.

“In hindsight, yes [it’s a regret], because Eric retired a year later and Zidane was younger, so he would have continued it.”