Jorge Mendes backs Cristiano Ronaldo to win Ballon d’Or

The agent of Juventus striker Cristiano Ronaldo has backed his client to win the Ballon d’Or for an unprecedented sixth time.

Ronaldo has been awarded the trophy in four of the past five seasons – including each of the last two – to leave him level with perennial rival Lionel Messi on five wins.

The 33-year-old has enjoyed another successful year, scoring 44 goals in as many appearances for Real Madrid last season to help them to a third successive Champions League crown, and then joining Juventus for £100m during the summer.

Ronaldo has since scored seven goals in 13 appearances for his new club, including becoming the first player to reach 400 in Europe’s top five leagues.

“I hope Cristiano wins the Ballon d’Or and that next year he may win it again,” Jorge Mendes said in a speech at an event in Lisbon.

“When I took Ronaldo to England in 2003, it was something special. Portuguese players had no place in that market. With his arrival, and even more when he became Manchester United’s best player after a year, everything changed.

“At that moment he opened the door to other young talents.”

Ronaldo first won the Ballon d’Or 10 years ago and every award since then has gone to either him or Messi, although Luka Modric was crowned the men’s player of the year at the FIFA Best awards in September.