Xavi Names The Two Players Who Will Battle For The Ballon d'Or Next

Not many players can hang with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Former Barcelona midfielder Xavi came closer than most and he's had his say on who will take over from the Ballon d'Or hogs eventually.

In a decade of deciding who the best footballer in the world is only a few men have been able to come close to Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi and most of them haven't held a sustained challenge to the two superstars.

Wesley Sneijder, Manuel Neuer and Frank Ribery could have all argued at one time or another that they should have won the award themselves but each one of them only had a one year claim.

I remember them before their second album made them famous. Image: PA Images.

Xavi came close to the Barca and Real stars on three occasions in a row when for three years he was the third best player in the world, impressive at the best of times but even more so in their era when best of the rest is all you can hope for.

So who better placed to decide who will replace Ronaldo and Messi as the top two than the Spaniard, now plying his trade in Qatar. Talking RMC Sport, about former teammate Neymar, Xavi said:

"I have huge respect for him, he's a fantastic footballer. When Messi and Cristiano lower their level, he will be the next Golden Ball winner.

"When Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo retire, the debate about the best in the world will be between Neymar and Mbappe."

Who will be the first to win a Ballon d'Or. Image: PA Images.

It's not exactly the most controversial answer by Xavi to pick the two PSG superstars currently tearing up Ligue 1 and being two of the most expensive players in football history.

Ironically of course Neymar left Barcelona last summer in part to get out of the shadow of Messi and give himself a better chance of winning the Ballon d'Or. Since moving to Paris he's been joined by Mbappe.

_{Sure Messi's won five Ballon d'Ors but he's no Emile Heskey:}

The Frenchman is only on loan at PSG but will join permanently at the end of the season however their partnership could only be for a season as rumours that Neymar could move back to Spain with Real Madrid refuse to go away.

Just how long it'll be till someone not called Ronaldo or Messi wins the Ballon d'Or is yet anyone's guess.

Topics: Xavi, Football News, PSG, Neymar, Lionel Messi, Ballon d'Or, Kylian Mbappe, Cristiano Ronaldo

Ryan Sidle

Ryan is a writer for SPORTbible. He covers all sport from football, formula one, cricket, rugby, tennis, athletics, mma and wrestling. He obviously hates YOUR football team and has no interest in synchronised swimming.

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