Manchester United legend, Patrice Evra has claimed that Lionel Messi would have won 15 Ballon d’Or awards by now if he had the same ‘work ethic’ as his long-term rival Cristiano Ronaldo.
There have been a long decade of debates about whether Messi or Ronaldo should be named the greatest footballer of all time.
However, Evra has made his stance that Ronaldo deserves the title as ‘God’ gave Messi his ‘talent’ while the Portugal international had to ‘work or it’.
Speaking on Rio Ferdinand’s YouTube channel FIVE, Evra said: ‘I want to explain why I say Ronaldo every time. It’s not because he’s our brother it’s because I’m in love with work ethic.’
The former Manchester United star went on to add: ‘I feel like Messi, god just gave him a talent and Cristiano had to work for it. He had the talent but he had to work for it.
‘If Messi had the same work ethic as Cristiano Ronaldo, he would probably have like 15 Ballon d’Ors today. I’m just in love with people working hard so that’s why I pick Ronaldo over Messi.’