Sami Khedira believes his Juventus teammate Gianluigi Buffon deserves the Ballon d’Or – “he’s played at the highest level for 20 years”.
The Bianconeri goalkeeper wasn’t even nominated for the prize last year, but now that France Football has taken back full control he’s on the 30-man shortlist.
After praising Buffon in an interview with Mediaset earlier today, the German expanded on his thoughts with Sky.
“I think there are a lot of players who deserve it, also a goalkeeper like Buffon,” Khedira said.
Sami Khedira believes his Juventus teammate Gianluigi Buffon deserves the Ballon d’Or – “he’s played at the highest level for 20 years”.
The Bianconeri goalkeeper wasn’t even nominated for the prize last year, but now that France Football has taken back full control he’s on the 30-man shortlist.
After praising Buffon in an interview with Mediaset earlier today, the German expanded on his thoughts with Sky.
“I think there are a lot of players who deserve it, also a goalkeeper like Buffon,” Khedira said.
“He definitely deserves it, because he’s played at the highest level for 20 years, but we have to consider [Cristiano] Ronaldo too.
“I know him well, I played with him for five years, he won the Champions League and the Euros [this year] and scored a lot of great goals. He’s a fantastic player.
“Then there’s obviously [Lionel] Messi and Neymar, there are so many great players who could win the Ballon d’Or.
“If I had to decide myself though, this could be one of the last chances for Buffon. It would be great for him, and great for us.
“We know and he knows though, that there are a lot of great players in contention.”
Khedira also discussed his own form, having struggled with injuries in recent seasons.
“It’s very difficult to say whether or not this is the best time of my career. I’m in good condition, I can say that.
“Last year I missed a lot of games, which wasn’t what I expected of myself. This year I’m trying to turn the tide though, to be at 100 per cent.
“I’m really happy to be able to train every day and help the team. I think this is my best period of the last two years, but I’m still young and I can improve.”
The Bianconeri lost to Milan on Saturday night, has their level dropped after five Scudetti in a row?
“There was a great save from [Gianluigi] Donnarumma,” Khedira recalled, the Rossoneri man having saved his shot in the last-minute.
“We had 95 minutes to score a goal though, even if we actually did [Pjanic’s disallowed goal] so there was bad luck.
“Sometimes it happens in football, and we lost. We have a lot of respect for our opponents, Milan have improved a lot compared to last year, but there’s also Roma and Napoli.
“We know they’re all great teams, but we also know that we’re really strong. If we play the way we can then we’re definitely one of the best teams in Europe.
“We have to prove that on the pitch though, not by speaking, we have to work hard and prove ourselves. That’s what’s important.
“Obviously we have a lot of respect for every game and every team we face.”