Adebayo Akinfenwa is a cult hero in both English football and on EA Sports' famous FIFA series.

The reason why? Because of his brute strength. The 37-year-old is renowned as the strongest player in world football and he can bench press 180kg.

So it's no surprise that on FIFA 20, Akinfenwa - known as 'The Beast' - was named as the strongest player on the game with a 97 rating, two higher than any other player.

If any statistic on the game is deserved, it's Akinfenwa's strength and GIVEMESPORT managed to speak to the iconic Wycombe striker at the FIFA 20 world premiere in London.

We picked his brain about Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo, his dream VOLTA five-a-side team and much, much more.

AKINFENWA'S DREAM VOLTA TEAM

"Do I have to pick a goalkeeper?" Akinfenwa asked us, to which we replied 'no', making this team even more exciting on paper.

"I'm going to have to go with VvD (Virgil van Dijk), so VvD will be at the back because I think he's all purpose and he's big enough that he can stop the goal and dive and that.

"I'm going to put (Pierre-Emerick) Aubameyang at the top because he's a goal scorer. I've got to put my hitter (Sadio) Mane in as well.

"I'm going to have to put (N'Golo) Kante in there because he's going to win the ball back."

Not a bad quartet to start with and with the last pick, Akinfenwa added: "I'm going (Raheem) Sterling man, I rate Sterling highly."

Akinfenwa's five-a-side team: Van Dijk, Kante, Sterling, Mane, Aubameyang

AKINFENWA ON MESSI v RONALDO

With Messi (94) earning a higher rating than Ronaldo (93) on FIFA 20, we decided to ask Akinfenwa for his take on football's eternal question.

The Beast replied: "Personally, I do think Messi is slightly better. Better is a difficult word, I would just have Messi over Ronaldo.

"So better, I think they're both the GOATs, they sit parallel to one another, but I think it always sways to something that you sway to, so I sway to Messi.

"I'm okay with the FIFA ratings, even though I do feel like they're both the GOATs, I'm okay with Messi being slightly better.

"Just because to me I think Messi is slightly better, Messi's all purpose, but I think Ronaldo is the GOAT as well."

But like the rest of us, when it comes to separating the two geniuses it's almost impossible to pick sides, with Akinfenwa adding: "But I admire Ronaldo, every time a question is asked of Ronaldo, he delivers.

"And of course, he's gone to different countries, different teams had to deal with different languages, where as Messi has stayed where he's stayed, but I am not slighting him for that.

"I'm slightly contradicting myself, maybe they should be level. After I'm putting it out there, they should be level, even though I sway to Messi in my team."

AKINFENWA ON BEING FIFA'S STRONGEST

We then decided to get the Beast's thoughts on what makes him such a footballing icon, asking the big question - should that strength rating be 99?

Akinfenwa replied: "In the past few years, I feel EA have done me wrong and every year I go down by one just because I'm getting older.

"So I think they do me wrong, but I've come to think they've got this format that they follow.

"My only thing is, as long as they don't take away my strongest, because there's nobody stronger than me. I'm not being arrogant, but when it comes to brute strength, there's nobody stronger than me.

"I see Wesley, I think he's an animal, I see (Sebastian) Haller, I think he's a monster, I see a few of them, but they ain't no beast!"

AKINFENWA ON MANE v STERLING v SALAH

In case you didn't know, Akinfenwa is a huge Liverpool fan, so we thought it was best to ask him how he rated the Reds' two best attackers compared with Man City's talisman.

He told us: "Do you know what, I may get a little backlash from this, not from this bit, but I think Mane is the best of the three.

"I think Sterling is second and I think Salah is third. I think Sterling will go on, I mean just look at his stats.

"And he's 24, I keep forgetting how young Sterling is, it's crazy and I just think he's becoming a monster, I'm talking about in every element.

"Sometimes people are like he doesn't really finish it, he don't hit it true, it goes in the back of the net.

"So I don't want to hear it, if it goes top bins or rolls in the back of the net, he scores.

"So I think Mane is the best, I think Mane at the moment is just at the highest of the heights, I think Sterling is second and I think Salah is third.

"Sterling and Mane's all-round game is better than Salah's, but you know Salah has got that X-Factor, he's very driven.

"He's driven to score goals, he's driven to be the main man, which I think you need to be the main man."

'FIRMINO IS THAT GUY'

So after a discussion about Liverpool's flying wingers, it's only natural to move on to the man that pieces it all together; Roberto Firmino.

Akinfenwa said: "For me, Firmino is that guy. I'm telling you now, he's that guy and I have seen it. For me, he's the best number nine in the world.

We then asked the Beast the BIG question: 'If Liverpool were on a great run of form during the season, who would you rather lose to injury, Firmino or Van Dijk?'

Akinfenwa replied: "I'd rather lose Firmino, because we'll still score goals, we lose Van Dijk and we'll concede more goals.

"That's the problem, Firmino makes us tick, makes everybody tick, but we'll still score goals with Mane, Salah and (Divock) Origi up top.

"It may not be as fluent, but we'll still score goals. Take Van Dijk, he makes everybody around him better, take Van Dijk away and the hole is massive.

"You see that from his stats. When he makes a mistake, it's like the world is going to end, that's how high he's set his standards.

"The mark of a good player is not what you do, it's what you do to everyone around you and Virg has got that, Firmino has got that.

"And that's why I say, Mane and Sterling, it's what they do to the players around them."

FIRMINO HAS CHANCE OF MATCHING BERGKAMP

When talking about Liverpool's Brazilian magician, we lastly asked Akinfenwa his thoughts on recent comparisons with Arsenal legend Dennis Bergkamp.

He was quick to say that comparisons should not be made between the two right now, but he finished off with a very apt assessment.

Akinfenwa said: "If Firmino continues on this trajectory, he may be one day better than the great Bergkamp."

The man knows his football.

Akinfenwa was speaking at the FIFA 20 World Premiere. EA SPORTS FIFA 20, featuring VOLTA FOOTBALL, is out on September 27 for Playstation 4, Xbox One and PC. To pre-order your copy, head to https://www.ea.com/en-au/games/fifa/fifa-20/buy