Balotelli: I’ll have to kill Messi & Ronaldo to win Ballon d’Or

The Italy international striker is still targeting the individual prize but admits that it will be complicated to get the better of the star duo

Mario Balotelli continues to harbour ambitions of one day winning the Ballon d’Or but admits that he is going to have to get creative in order to beat Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo to the prize.

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Upon arriving in Nice last summer, the Italy international striker said that it was not too late for him to win the game’s greatest individual honour, which has now been shared by the Portuguese and the Argentine in each of the last nine editions.

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The striker now seems to have come to the conclusion that securing the gong will be a difficult achievement.

“I’ll have to kill those two to win it,” he told Brescia Oggi. “What I’ve done since the start of my career has not been enough, I will have to do more.”

Balotelli’s contract in Nice will expire at the end of June and his future remains unclear, though Marseille continue to be associated with a move for the 26-year-old.

He ended he season with 15 goals from 23 appearances in Ligue 1.