The Ballon d'Or has been the plaything of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for the past nine years, and it would be pretty surprising if one of them didn't land the title again this year but despite their dominance Jose Mourinho is surprised that one man has never got his hands on it.
There's almost no doubt that between them Messi and Ronaldo have been the best players on the planet for the past decade. Even if you can't decide who is best between them they are almost certainly one and two.
However despite that they've arguably not always been the best player of the year, think Wesley Sneijder helping Inter Milan to a treble before guiding Netherlands to a World Cup final or Manuel Neuer winning the treble win Bayern Munich.
And Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho thinks that he's managing a man who should have got his hands on the prestigious award at some point in his career. Of course it's Zlatan Ibrahimovic and talking to MUTV Ibra's boss said:
"I think what he has done is amazing. The number of goals he's scored, the two matches at Wembley, the trophies, what he is in the group, and what he means. I think he is absolutely phenomenal. No more words.
I just gave an interview to a big French magazine with big responsibilities in these big awards, the FIFA Golden Ball and so on. I know about Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
" I know what they are and what they are doing but I can't believe this big man, with the career he's having, I can't believe he's never won it."
Of course 2017 isn't an international year so the award is arguably more open and with Barcelona all but out of the Champions League it COULD be the season that one of the two doesn't win the title of best player in the world.
And Jose added that this could yet be the year that the big Swede gets his hands on the award adding:
"So why not this season, if he can do something special? If he can win more trophies, reach Stockholm and the Europa League final. Why not this man, who is 35 years old, to get that deserved award?"
The last time someone not called Messi or Ronaldo won the award was in 2007 when Kaka took the crown, and he wasn't a Champions League winner so who knows...
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