9 months ago
132 Nicolo Zaniolo has been ranking some of the biggest names in world football.
The Italian took part in a TikTok challenge on Aston Villa’s page, and he had a go at ranking some of the greatest players in modern times and history.
Zaniolo made some very interesting picks, but perhaps the most intriguing placement was Roberto Firmino’s.
Zaniolo put Firmino sixth in his list of 10 players behind the likes of Genarro Gattuso and Juan Roman Riquelme, but ahead of the likes of Frenkie De Jong and Ilkay Gundogan.
Firmino was, of course, one of the best strikers in the world during his time at Liverpool, and it’s clear that Zaniolo rates the Brazilian very highly.
Of course, whether or not Firmino is actually better than Gundogan is a debate that will divide football fans across the world.
Gundogan was incredible for Manchester City for years. He captained the side to a treble and scored vital goals in vital moments in huge games.
Meanwhile, Firmino was never the main man at Liverpool, but he did knit everything together in that team and he was a world-class player in his own right.
In our view, Firmino may well have been the more talented player, but Gundogan will perhaps leave a greater legacy behind due to his incredible trophy haul, big moments and the fact that he was the captain of arguably the best team English football has ever seen.
That isn’t to take away from Firmino and what he achieved at Liverpool, but the likes of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Sadio Mane and Trent Alexander-Arnold all got a lot more credit for the Reds’ success in recent years, while Gundogan was right there alongside Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland in terms of being acknowledged as one of City’s most important players in numerous title and cup runs.
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