Between Ronaldo, Messi, Zidane, who is a world class footballer?

Many football fans hold the view that certain players are world class but what truly defines a world class player?

In my opinion it comes down to these three key metrics, trophies, leadership and who has more deals signed. 

Firstly let us talk about trophies, this is the ultimate aim of any professional footballer to win it all at club level and on the international scene with their respective nations. 

Players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Zinedine Zidane can boast of winning trophies with both club and country.

Lionel Messi has won 45 trophies, four champions leagues, 10 league titles, seven Copa del Rey titles with Barcelona, two league titles with Paris Saint Germain (PSG) and one French cup with PSG and also Copa America with Argentina whereas Zidane has won 22 trophies including two league titles, two Super Cups, two Club World Cups with France.

He has also won the World Cup and the European Championship.

Ronaldo on his part however has won the European Championship with Portugal and UEFA Nations League for his nation and has won five Champions League titles, one Italian league title as well as three Premier League titles with Manchester United. 

Secondly , it is important to note that trophies aren’t the only metric I have listed in this analysis, leadership in my view is also a key metric in determining who a world class professional footballer truly is.

In this context leadership is defined as goals scored during a single season. Ronaldo had 48 goals in 2015, Messi had 91 in 2012 and Zidane had 10 goals (Bordeaux 1992-93). 

Finally, everlasting impact on the game is also a key metric I find that is very important in determining who a world class footballer is.

In this context in terms of deals they have signed throughout their career Ronaldo has the most, Messi is second and Zidane is third.

In my opinion these key metrics define a world class footballer.