Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville has claimed that Cristiano Ronaldo is the only candidate to win the Ballon d'Or for 2018.
Ronaldo has scooped the prestigious individual award in each of the past two seasons, while every trophy since Kaka's success in 2007 has been won by either Ronaldo or Barcelona's Lionel Messi.
However, the form of Liverpool winger Mohamed Salah has seen many tip the Egyptian to break that duopoly this year, with his two-goal performance in the Champions League semi-final first leg against Roma seeing him installed as joint-favourite alongside Ronaldo and ahead of Messi.
Neville believes that Ronaldo's name is already on the trophy, though, with the five-time winner having scored 26 goals in just 18 matches for Madrid this calendar year.
Only one winner = @Cristiano https://t.co/TlBjZx9ynZ
— Gary Neville (@GNev2) April 26, 2018
Salah has outscored both Ronaldo and Messi for club and country this season, netting 47 times in just 51 appearances.
