Despite being nearly 2 months away from the final presentation ceremony, the race for Ballon d'Or is already heating up with players and pundits taking time to reveal who they believe will be crowned Europe’s best footballer late in December. Gareth Bale, one of the 30 names on the list of nominees for the award has claimed that he cannot look beyond Cristiano Ronaldo as the most deserving player on the continent to win the title for the 4th time.
The Real Madrid number 7 enjoyed a phenomenal last season, helping his side win the UEFA Champions League for a record 11th time and also playing a crucial role in Portugal’s Euro 2016 victorious campaign. While the Welshman himself has enjoyed a good season with club and country, he has admitted that his teammate Ronaldo deserves to win the award owing to his performances over the last 12 months and accepted that individual awards are a result of players helping their respective clubs and countries win silverware.
Bale recently extended his contract with Real Madrid until 2022 and was quoted as saying this post the extension, "The most important thing is winning all the trophies possible. And, for this reason, I extended my contract with Real Madrid; because I believe that we can win a lot. It's important to keep on scoring, to assist and to help the club achieve a lot. I don't know when I will be able to win it, but it has never been a personal objective. I always looked at it from the point of view that, if I win and play well, the individual prizes will arrive. We'll see what happens in the future.
“If I was the person to hand out the award, I would have to say Ronaldo's season has been incredible. His year has been fantastic with the Champions League and Euro 2016. I wish everyone luck, but above all to my teammate."
Real Madrid have been on a roll recently tying down crucial players such as Tony Kroos and Luka Modric to long-term contracts at the club. With Bale joining the legions of superstars who have pledged their future to the club, the Spanish giants will now be keen to tie down their most valuable player Cristiano Ronaldo for a few more years. The Portuguese superstar’s current contract runs until the end of the 2018 season and with him showing no signs of aging, the club would be well served to sort out his future at the earliest.
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