Santos DISPUTE claim Lionel Messi has broken Pele’s goal record, insisting Barcelona legend needs another 447 to match Brazil icon’s tally

Lionel Messi has NOT broken Pele’s goal record for a single club, according to the Brazilian legend’s former team Santos.

Barcelona hero Messi scored his 644th goal for the Catalans last weekend and was thought to have surpassed Pele’s 643 strikes for Santos.

3

But the Brazil-based club have released a lengthy statement disputing the statistics and claiming Messi actually needs another 447 goals to actually match Pele's tally.

Santos insist Pele actually scored 1,091 goals for them during his career with the club that spanned from 1956 to 1974.

They claim he netted an astonishing 448 extra goals that are not counted in official statistics, as the matches and friendlies were deemed to be of lesser value.

3

His goals against the likes of River Plate, Real Madrid, Juventus, Lazio, Napoli, Benfica and Anderlecht are not included in the official numbers, the club wrote.

Their statement read: “The argument of some analysts is that so many of these 448 goals scored in amiable disputes were in front of fragile opponents, such as small selections or regional combined.

“Still, the matches were played in official uniforms, with the official rules of the game.

“We have to remember that clubs could only play friendlies with the endorsement of regional and national federations, one of the rules imposed by FIFA, the organiser of world football.

“Taking into account subjective attributes, such as fragility of opponents, is not ideal for compiling statistical data. The numbers are absolute. A goal against Eibar is worth the same, statistically, than the one scored against Valencia.

3

“A goal against Transvaal (from Suriname) has the same value as Real Madrid in the middle of the Santiago Bernabéu.”

Pele himself congratulated Messi on his remarkable achievement in a post on Instagram.

He wrote: “When your heart overflows with love, it is difficult to change your path. Like you, I know what it's like to love wearing the same shirt every day. Like you, I know that there is nothing better than the place we feel at home.

“Congratulations on your historic record, Lionel. But above all, congratulations on your beautiful career at @fcbarcelona.

“Stories like ours, of loving the same club for so long, unfortunately will be increasingly rare in football. I admire you a lot, @leomessi.”