Cristiano Ronaldo is not among the favourites to win this year’s Ballon d’Or, but his former Manchester United boss thinks that should change.
Sir Alex Ferguson has said Cristiano Ronaldo ‘deserves’ to win the Ballon d’Or this year.
The prestigious award is handed out at the end of each calendar year by French publication France Football to the footballer deemed to have performed best over the course over the previous 12 months.
A list of 30 male players have been nominated, with twenty players up for the women’s award, ahead of a coronation on November 29 in Paris.
The favourite to win is Ronaldo’s great rival and six-time winner Lionel Messi, who won the Copa America with Argentina in the summer.
Robert Lewandowski, Jorginho, N’Golo Kante and former Real Madrid teammate Karim Benzema are also all ahead of Ronaldo in the betting stakes.
According to Marca, the legendary former United manager said: “Cristiano deserves it.

“This year he’s broken record after record.”
Ronaldo has enjoyed an excellent year in football, both for his clubs and his country, winning the Coppa Italia at Juventus, finishing last season as Serie A top goalscorer and claiming top spot as the highest international scorer of all time.
To top it all off, Ronaldo returned to Manchester United in the summer and has continued his fine form in England with five goals in six games.