Real Madrid

Cristiano Ronaldo: "I am the best player in history"

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 08 December 2017

Cristiano Ronaldo insists that "there is no-one more complete" than him, having won the Ballon d'Or award for a fourth time in five years.

Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo has claimed that his latest Ballon d'Or award proves that he is "the best player in history".

The Portugal international was crowned the world's best player for a fifth time on Thursday evening, taking him level with Barcelona ace Lionel Messi.

Ronaldo added another Champions League and La Liga crown to his collection last season, while also recently being named the best male player at the 2017 Best FIFA Football Awards, and the 32-year-old believes that he should now be considered the greatest of all time.

"I'm the best player in history, in the good moments and the bad ones," he told France Football. "I respect everyone's preferences, but I've never seen anyone better than me. I have always thought that. No footballer can do the things I can. There's no player more complete than me.

"I play well with both feet, I'm quick, powerful, good with the head, I score goals, I make assists. There are guys who prefer Neymar or Messi. But I tell you: there's no one more complete than me.

"No one has won as many individual trophies as me. And I'm not speaking just of the Ballon d'Or. That says something, doesn't it? It's not just a result of the work I do in the gym, like some people think. It's the sum of many things.

"Legends like Floyd Mayweather and LeBron James don't get to their perfect level by chance. Many factors coincide. To be at the top and to stay there, you have to have more talent than the others."

Ronaldo has now won the Ballon d'Or accolade two years running and four times in the last five years.