Wayne Rooney: Cristiano Ronaldo is the best player in the world now

Cristiano Ronaldo

Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney is backing Cristiano Ronaldo to claim the Ballon d’Or prize once again as he believes that the Real Madrid star forward is the best player in the world currently.

Rooney, who played five seasons with Ronaldo at the Old Trafford, considers him as the clear favourite to retain the individual prize ahead of Barcelona man Lionel Messi. The United no.10 also added that it is very unlikely that someone else will win the award considering Ronaldo’s amazing feats this year.

The Portuguese recently picked up his third European Golden Shoe for finishing as the top scorer with 31 goals across all major leagues in Europe. He has also scored 50 goals in 49 calender appearances this year as opposed to Messi’s 45 in 56.

And Rooney, who is confident about Ronaldo winning the Ballon d’Or again, gave his views on the subject to MUTV.

He said: "He's had an incredible two or three years and I think he has certainly overtaken Lionel Messi now as the best player in the world.

"I'm sure it'll be difficult to give it to anyone else."

Ronaldo now has 23 goals from 17 games in the new season and is considerably ahead of any other player who have some catch up work to do against the 29-year-old.