Cristiano Ronaldo Names The 6 Players That Look Destined To Win The Ballon D’Or
REUTERS/Eric Gaillard
Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has named the players who can follow his illustrious footsteps and dominate world football once he retires from the sport.
There is no doubt that Ronaldo and his rival Lionel Messi have dominated world football, winning the prestigious Ballon d’Or in every edition since 2008, with the latter winning on five occasions, and the former on four. The last player to win the award aside from these two was Brazilian star Kaka in 2008.
The eternal debate is still ongoing between the footballing fans as to who is going to win the award once these two superstars hang up their boots in the future.
However, during the Champions League draw in Monaco, Ronaldo acknowledged that there is plenty of talent ready to inherit the award once he retires from the sport.
After get crowned as the UEFA Player of the Year on Thursday, the Portuguese hero was asked by reporters to name his successors, and he tipped the likes of Eden Hazard, Marcus Rashford, Marco Asensio, Ousmane Dembele, and Kylian Mbappe as future winners.
Reuters / Carl Recine
“It’s a very good question,” said Ronaldo. “I see some with great potential: Asensio, Mbappe, Neymar, Dembele, Hazard, Rashford …and some others. In the next generation, there are at least ten players with very, very great potential.”
REUTERS/Juan Medina
The current world record signing, Neymar, came close to winning the award two years ago, following his impressive season for Barcelona.
And while Eden Hazard is arguably being tipped as the best player in the Premier League by many experts and pundits, the Belgian superstar hasn’t been able to win the Ballon d’Or title, owing to the lack of silverware under his belt.
Reuters / Stefan Wermuth
On the other hand, Asensio, Rashford, Mbappe, and Dembele are all touted as emerging stars, and considering the abundance of talent that these youngsters possess, there is no doubt that they will win more laurels in the future.
Written by Pragadeesh Shanmugam 
United fan since Edwin Van der Sar denied Nicolas Anelka’s penalty to earn a dramatic Euro glory. Firmly believes that Lionel Messi deserves to win the Ballon d’Or until he plays this sport. One time writer for GiveMeSport and Roar. A regular contributor to Sportskeeda and BlameFootball.