Former Newcastle United defender Marcelino has claimed that Cristiano Ronaldo is the most "complete player in the history of football".

The Portuguese forward scored his third hat-trick in four league games as Real Madrid hammered Athletic Bilbao 5-0 on Sunday evening.

The trio of strikes was Ronaldo's 22nd hat-trick of his Los Blancos career, and Marcelino thinks that the ex-Manchester United star is likely to retain the Ballon d'Or.

He told Sky Sports News: "He's the most complete player in the history of football. He can score goals with his head, with his feet. He's as strong as anyone; as powerful as anyone.

"He looks like he wants to keep improving. He wants to score and add more numbers to his statistics.

"There's been this debate between Lionel Messi and Ronaldo. Messi has been fantastic but Ronaldo, and I keep saying it, is the most complete player ever. If the [Ballon d'Or] were awarded now, he would get it."

Ronaldo moved to Real Madrid for £80m in 2009.