There will never be two players like Real Madrid legend Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona icon Lionel Messi again, according to former England and Blaugrana striker Gary Lineker.

While both stars are not close to retirement yet, Ronaldo at 33 and Messi aged 30, are nearer to the end of their world-beating careers than the start.

That said, the La Liga duo are still very much performing at the peak of their powers.

For Lineker, who enjoyed a three-season spell at the Camp Nou in the late 1980s, he feels the Spanish top-flight has been the world’s best league for some time, mainly because of the success of Ronaldo and Messi.

But, with the Premier League’s stock rising ever more, the 57-year-old feels La Liga – as a brand – will take a massive hit whenever either the famed twosome move on or retire.

“The two of them are now getting towards the back end of their careers, and when they go, which sadly for all of us they will, it is going to be impossible to replace them,” Lineker, who scored 48 times for England, told Planet Football.

“You have to remember that Real Madrid and Barcelona have a magical appeal to players all over the world and can generally sign who they want, but they have had Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi at their peak for the last few years, which has been a deciding factor in so many big games.

“I would say we (the Premier League) have halved the gap that was there a couple of years back, and with the money in the English game we should get even closer in the next couple of years.”