Best dribbler will certainly be Maradona, guy could dribble at speed, in close spaces, with tricks, and in any direction. Luis Ronaldo, Zidane, Ronaldinho, Jay Jay Okocha, Riquelme are some of many great dribblers.
Messi specializes in dribbling with acceleration in straight or semi straight directions, due to his strong dependency on his left foot. Unlike the players stated above, Messi only dribbles when he knows that there is space opening up between the defenders, the defenders are passive (not aggressively marking the spaces) and it is the best option for him (no other forward players who can make use of his passes). When the situation is against him (e.g. defenders marking the spaces aggressively or the direction is not straight enough for him to accelerate), he will typically pass to another player and then move into a lowly marked space so that he can try again. I would say that he is the most intelligent player of all time, since he knows when to dribble, when to pass etc. This is why his dribbling appears to be very good.
Messi's dominance happened at the same time where defenders became more of possession carriers with less focus on defensive attributes as well as playing around talent on the same level as him (Iniesta, Xavi, Busquets, Neymar, Suarez, Villa, Pedro, Etoo, Henry etc). The players that Barcelona had from 2009 to 2014 were able to create and exploit spaces for Messi while being equally good at dribbling and holding possession. That's why that Barca team under Pep and Enrique was so formidable. It is no coincidence that when most of those players left, Messi was not able to produce the same performances, though he was still able to perform as a finisher and creator. The Messi that we saw at PSG is another example of why his dribbling is no longer very effective, due to his decline in speed from post-COVID issues.
