Former Seattle Sounders and Scottish striker Jocky Scott has named the late Brazilian legend Pele as the best player in the history of football.

Scott believes Pele was a superior player to both Argentina captain Lionel Messi and Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo.

Pele, who passed away last Thursday at 82, played for the North American Soccer League club New York Cosmos for two years.

Pele was part of their triumph in the 1977 Soccer Bowl against the Seattle Sounders before hanging up his boots.

Reminiscing about Pele, who won three World Cup trophies with Brazil, Scott, 74, argued that the modern game, with its emphasis on avoiding tackles, would have made players like Pele, the late Diego Maradona, George Best, and Johan Cruyff do even more than they did in their eras.

“I think you have got to recognize different eras in football, and over the last ten or fifteen years with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, they deserve the accolades they get for being the best players,” Scott told Stat Platforms via Yahoo Sport.

“But I think they are the best players of this era, or have been the best players of this era.”

He added, “I will always say Pele is definitely the best player [GOAT].”

“To be honest, I think any player like Pele, Maradona, George Best, Cruyff – attacking players who are great individuals and can all score goals – nowadays, with the way the game is played where you are virtually not allowed to tackle anybody, I think they’d be much, much better players.”