Only a handful of players can claim to be the best of their generation, let alone the best ever. 

For many fans, it's between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi right now. The two La Liga stars have shared the title of being the best in the world for the last eight years. 

Only either of those two have won the Ballon d'Or since 2008 and if one of them didn't win, they'd come second behind the other.

Barcelona's Messi has also staked his claim to being the best of all time and is often mentioned in the same breath as Pele, Johan Cruyff or Diego Maradona.

The 29-year-old has won everything to offer in club football and broken numerous personal records.

However, he's never quite done it on the international stage with Argentina and his critics claim he has to win the World Cup to be named the best ever.

Ronaldo is not always mentioned in the same way as his rival, but he's certainly up there in the conversation.    

He, like Messi, has won it all at club level and has even won a major international tournament - tasting victory with Portugal at Euro 2016.    

Many fans argue that there's not another footballer currently playing that comes close to either of these two, but one legend disagrees.  

Maradona has recently joined the debate over the greatest ever and did not pick himself.

Roma's Francesco Totti may be coming to the end of his career as he approaches his 41st birthday. His future is unclear as no announcement has been made. 

Ahead of his likely retirement, Maradona took to his official Facebook page to pay respect to one of football's biggest names. 

The post read: 

"Francesco Totti is the king of Rome! He is and will be the best player I ever saw! #Respect".

So there we have it. One of the players often mentioned as being the best ever has thrown a new name into the mix.  

Is Francesco Totti the best to ever play? Have your say in the comments below.