Despite the last few years of his career not panning out quite like he'd have wanted them to following his Manchester City exit, there's no doubt that Raheem Sterling has had an excellent run on the football pitch and he's one of the greatest English forwards in the history of the sport.
From his emergence at Liverpool as a promising prospect, to his dazzling spell at the Etihad which saw him lift four Premier League titles among a plethora of other trophies, he has made a living of torching opposition defenders with his pace and ability to dance through the backline.
After leaving City, his time at Chelsea and Arsenal hasn't been half as fruitful, but he's still come across some superb footballers over the years. As a result, Sterling will have almost certainly developed a real eye for talent and was tasked with naming the five best footballers of all-time during an appearance on GOAL's FanZone. Interestingly, he didn't have Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo at number one.
While Sterling has seen and done it all in football over the years, his picks for the top five footballers ever threw up a few surprises. Mostly the fact he didn't have Ronaldo or Messi at number one. The two men have long been considered the two greatest players in the history of the sport, but the Arsenal man clearly disagrees. Instead, he had the former listed at number five, something even he described as 'mad'.
The former Manchester United man has been tearing teams apart for two decades now and hasn't shown any signs of slowing down at Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League. This season alone, the Portuguese superstar already has 20 goal contributions under his belt in as many appearances. Not bad for 39 years old.
At four, he ranked his namesake, Ronaldo Nazario. The Brazilian torched defenders for years during his career and while injuries may have slowed him down towards the end of his time on the pitch, there's no denying the fact that he scored at an astonishing rate for the likes of PSV Eindhoven, Inter Milan and his national team. He's considered one of the best finishers ever and for good reason. Moving onto number three, with the biggest surprise of the list, Sterling has Messi.
Barcelona and Argentina legend Lionel Messi singled out three goalkeepers as being the best he faced during his illustrious career.
Few players wouldn't have the Argentine as the greatest player of all time, but the ones that don't would almost certainly have him as the runner-up. Instead, Sterling has him down at three. Messi has been a force of nature for the likes of Argentina and Barcelona over the years and has done things with a football that no one previously thought was possible. Whether it's his record eight Ballon d'Or wins, or the sheer number of goals and assists he's recorded over the years, there's been no one like him. In quite a bold move, though, Sterling has his former teammate Neymar ranked ahead of him.
The former Paris Saint-Germain man has seen his career destroyed by injuries in the last couple of years. He was once the most exciting teenager on the planet and showed signs that he could be the best player in the world during his time teaming with Messi at Camp Nou. His exit to PSG didn't turn out quite like he'd hoped, but he still maintained his status as one of the most creative and exciting players in the game. There is no limit to the amount of trickery that Neymar possesses and he thrives off of making a fool out of his opposition defenders. He's one of the best dribblers football has ever seen and Sterling, operating in a similar role, is clearly appreciative of that.
At number one, Sterling named Ronaldinho as the best player ever. Before Messi and Ronaldo really took centre stage, it was the Brazilian who was capturing the imagination of fans all over the world in the 2000s. He was the ultimate showman, dancing past just about anyone put in front of him and his ball control was as good as anyone's has ever been. He is one of the most technically gifted footballers in history.
While he only managed to win the Ballon d'Or award once, Ronaldinho was the best player in the world for several years during his stint at Camp Nou and, to Sterling, he is the greatest footballer to ever play the sport.