Reigning Ballon d’Or holder Cristiano Ronaldo believes that Liverpool’s Mo Salah could be the man to break his and Lionel Messi’s decade of dominance of the award.
Not since Kaka in 2007 has someone other than Messi or Ronaldo claimed victory, though that record could be under threat following Salah’s remarkable debut season at Anfield.
Having plundered 44 goals in all competitions, Salah has shown himself to be up there with the elite attacking players in Europe, with Ronaldo now admitting that the Rgyptian could push him and Messi close in the Ballon d’Or race.
“Mo Salah has been one of the revelations of the year,” Ronaldo explained.
“Many people talk about the Cristiano Ronaldo-Messi battle but there are other players who have chances to enter the race (for Ballon d’Or). The Egyptian is one of them.”
Ronaldo and Salah were on opposite sides during last month’s Champions League final, but the Portuguese says he hopes to see Salah return to fitness from the shoulder injury he sustained in that game ahead of the World Cup.
“I hope his injury in the final in Kiev doesn’t keep him out,” he added.
With Portugal v Egypt potentially set to meet in the last 16, Ronaldo could be made to regret those words