Madrid  - Is Cristiano Ronaldo the best football player in the world, or is it Lionel Messi? England manager Fabio Capello thinks the Argentine has an edge over his Portuguese rival.

"No one in the world has the talent that Messi has," Capello said in an interview which Spanish sports daily Marca published Thursday.

For the Italian coach, there are players who are "very good," like Ronaldo of Manchester United, or Real Madrid's Dutchman Arjen Robben.

But Barcelona's Messi is different, according to Capello.

"Messi is football talent," Capello said.

"Ronaldo is a player with great speed, very good, very dangerous, very technical. He has an extremely high level, but it is Messi that is brilliant," he stressed.

The England manager went even further and said that the young Argentine striker could be the successor of legendary compatriot Diego Maradona.

"I think so. He does spectacular things," Capello said of Messi.

He noted that he has been following the forward for many years, and that he even tried to sign him when he was coaching Juventus Turin and Messi was not yet a starter at Barcelona.

"It was not possible," he noted.

Capello also mentioned Argentine striker Sergio Aguero, of Atletico Madrid, as player who is "brilliant, different." dpa