Former Italy international Antonio Cassano said Cristiano Ronaldo ‘is not even in the top five’ in the history of football, amid Jorge Mendes’ Ballon d’Or comments.
The Portuguese superstar re-joined Manchester United after three seasons at Juventus this summer and agent Jorge Mendes claimed the Ballon d’Or belongs to the former Real Madrid star.
Ronaldo continues to break records at 36 and left Juventus after scoring 101 goals in 134 competitive games with the Bianconeri.
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But Cassano is not convinced that the player with 136 goals in the Champions League has done enough to be among the top five players in history.
“Jorge Mendes says the Ballon d’Or belongs to Ronaldo? Yes, he’s the best in history,” Cassano said ironically.
“CR7 is not even in the top five, Mendes is a good one, compliments, but if we are talking about absolute level, Cristiano Ronaldo has nothing to do with it.
“For me, he is not in the top 5. I would put [Lionel] Messi, [Diego] Maradona, Pelé, [Johan] Cruijff. And then I’ll put Ronaldo, ‘Il Fenomeno’. Period.
“If we have to free someone, then [Marco] van Basten, as I don’t know [Alfredo] Di Stefano. Let’s not exaggerate.”
Cristiano Ronaldo, however, has won the Ballon d’Or five times during his career, the first in 2008 and the last in 2017.