Real Madrid player eyes winning ballon d’Or. Cristiano Ronaldo has competition in his team!

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Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos believes he can emulate Fabio Cannavaro by one day wrestling the Ballon d’Or trophy away from the Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi duopoly.

Ronaldo and Messi have shared the award for the past nine years, dating back to when Kaka won it in 2007 following his stellar performances for AC Milan in winning the Champions League.

Cannavaro won the coveted annual prize in 2006 after captaining Italy to World Cup success in Germany, and Ramos believes he can follow in the former Juventus defender’s footsteps if he continues to play at the very highest level.

In an interview with Marca on Sunday, Ramos was asked if winning the accolade as the world’s best player is a ‘crazy’ prospect.

‘It depends,’ he said. I’d have to know what they value to award that prize. These last years have been all about both Leo and Cristiano, but, for example, Cannavaro, who was my partner, also won.

‘You never see it as crazy. I have achieved lots of things throughout my career that are very very good but if they rewarded me with a Ballon d’Or, that would be historical.’

Ramos has enjoyed huge success in the Spanish capital since moving to Madrid from Sevilla in 2005, winning La Liga on four occasions and the Champions League three times as part of 15 major honours.

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The 31-year-old returns to pre-season training on Monday and he will want to show manager Zinedine Zidane he is ready to fight on all fronts once more with rivals Barcelona having installed Ernesto Valverde as their new boss.

Along with his dreams of one day winning the Ballon d’Or, Ramos hopes Cristiano Ronaldo and Alvaro Morata commit their futures to the club – but says it is up to the player to decide where he will be playing his football.

Ramos added: ‘These are personal situations and logically I can’t add much more. The only thing I can say is that I like being with the best and they are great players. Hopefully they are with us for many years but maybe they’re looking for an exit option so we’ll see.’

‘This year we started with the mentality of winning titles immediately. The challenge is always to overcome what was done the previous season. We have made history, but our intention and goal is to make the history of this club bigger.’

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