Brazilian legend Kaka believes Neymar will need to guide Paris Saint-Germain to Champions League success in order to put himself in the reckoning for the Ballon d’Or. The Brazil international is regarded as one of the best players in the world and he had made the switch to Les Parisiens three years ago with the view to winning the prestigious accolade.

That has not been the case over the past couple of seasons where he has spent an extended period of time on the sidelines through injury and during that period, Kylian Mbappe has evolved into the main man for the French champions. Still, Kaka believes his compatriot has a chance of winning the Ballon d’Or, should he contribute substantially en route to the club winning their maiden Champions League crown.

Jose Mourinho said that it is baffling that Wesley Sneijder has not been able to pick up a Ballon d’Or award despite his impeccable performances during the 2009-10 campaign with Inter Milan. The amazing performances of the Dutchman helped Inter pick up a remarkable treble of the Italian Serie A, Champions League, and Coppa Italia.

Belgium international Kevin de Bruyne believes he is pretty close to winning the Ballon d’Or, given he is entering the prime of his professional career. The 28-year-old has been a superb servant for Manchester City over the past five years and during this period, he has contributed 50 goals and 86 assists from 206 appearances.

According to an inside source at Tottenham Hotspur, captain Harry Kane is working on a summer exit, with the England international keen to move on to a top-level club to match his ambition to win the Champion's League and the Ballon D'Or.

Spurs have been very poor this year. They were knocked out of the champions league by RB Leipzig. The German were superior to Jose Mourinho 's side, as they won 4-0 over two legs. Tottenham are 8th in the league, seven points behind Chelsea in fourth place and qualification to next season's Champions League is looking unlikely.

Former Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure has insisted that Sadio Mane deserved to win the Ballon d’Or on the back of winning the Champions League title with Liverpool. The Senegal international has been an integral part of the Reds setup over the past three years and he contributed 26 goals en route to the Reds’ European success last term.

Speaking to reporters in Doha, Toure said that there are no better players than Mane at the moment in Africa and added that he should have won the Ballon d’Or crown after the Champions League glory, he told: “To be honest he [Mane] deserved to win the Ballon d’Or first. In Africa we don’t see any better players than him. Did you see the votes? Did you see what he did in the last year, how many goals he scored, what he achieved with Liverpool? For me it is a shame when a team wins this trophy [the Champions League] and the winner of the Ballon d’Or is not coming from there.”