Brazilian side Santos says Barcelona forward Messi is yet to break Pele's goalscoring record

According to a statement from Brazilian club side Santos, Lionel Messi has yet to break Pele’s goalscoring record for a single club and will have to score 448 more Barcelona goals to do so.

Messi scored his 644th goal for Barcelona against Real Valladolid on Tuesday last week, seemingly going past the Brazilian’s long-standing record of 643 official goals for Santos.

But, the South American club released a statement on Sunday claiming the 448 scored in friendly matches by the Brazilian great should be counted as the official tally stands at 1,091 goals.

Santos claims that “a goal against Transvaal (from Suriname) has the same value as a goal scored at Real Madrid, in the middle of the Santiago Bernabéu”.

“In the accounts of the specialized press, the King of Football scored 643 in competitions and the 448 goals scored in matches and friendly competitions were ostracized, as if they had less value than the others,” the statement read.

“The argument of some analysts is that so many of these 448 goals scored in friendly matches were faced with weak opponents, such as small or regional teams. Even so, the matches were played in official uniforms, with the official rules of the game and with a score sheet.

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

“Taking subjective attributes into account, such as the weakness of opponents, is not ideal for compiling statistical data. The numbers are absolute.”

Pele posted on social media congratulating the Argentine when he matched his tally with a goal against Valencia earlier this month.

Pele 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 Barcelona. Stories like ours, of loving the same club for so long, unfortunately will be increasingly rare in football. I admire you very much.”