‘Five good games & worth 200m!’ – Are Vinicius Junior & Co really superstars as ex-Man Utd & Brazil midfielder includes Cristiano Ronaldo & Lionel Messi in modern football argument

Asked what Real Madrid winger Vini Jr, who has been in the Ballon d’Or hunt before, needs to do in order to justify the biggest of billings, Anderson – who was speaking in association with talkSPORT Bet Online Slots – told GOAL: “Football has changed now.

“The other day I watched stuff on Instagram and I said to my friend, ‘you think these players now are amazing players?’ Look at my time, I played against [Claude] Makelele, I played against [Frank] Lampard. I played against [Steven] Gerrard, I played against [Cesc] Fabregas, I played against [Andres] Iniesta, Xavi, Xabi Alonso.

“Look at these players now, the football changed. It’s not the same now. It’s a complete change. Any player that gives three, four, five good games is good. You buy a player for 100 million. You buy a player for 200 million. It’s crazy, football now is crazy. And you think the player if he scores one, two, three, eight goals, you think, ‘oh, that player is top level, you’re going to buy him for 150 million’.

“But when the players go down, look at Manchester now. Some players, Manchester paying millions, millions, they are not the face of the club. It’s not for that club. Maybe for another club, yes, but not for that club. Because some players play good in one club, in another club they play bad.

“It’s difficult to be that level now because any player who scores 15, 20 goals in a year is a top player. If he scores 10 goals now, he’s a top player. If you start to play one, two matches, unbelievable, you’re a top player. That’s the difference.

“You take Yamal from Barcelona. He played good in the national team, he played good in Spain, he does amazing, he won titles. But the level is Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi, 45 years old. These guys play, they score so many goals. It’s that level.

“If you take Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi, both scored 20, 25 goals in a year. Last year, 30 goals in a year. Different league, yes, but it doesn’t matter. It’s 10 against 10, it doesn’t matter. That’s the difference.”