Mario Balotelli: Former Manchester City and Liverpool striker believes he can win the Ballon d’Or in the near future… if he can stay injury free
MARIO BALOTELLI believes "it is not impossible" for him to win the Ballon d'Or in the near future - if he can stay injury-free.
The Italian has had a great start to life in France with Nice having flopped at Liverpool, scoring six goals in six Ligue 1 games - and returned from a calf problem last night in their 2-1 Europa League win over Krasnodar.
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Balotelli's side currently sit three points clear of Monaco at the top of the table, and face third-place Paris Saint-Germain in the weekend's big clash.
And while his good form is undoubted, a man never short on self-confidence thinks he can wrestle the coveted Ballon d'Or off Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo - the latter being strong favourite to win this year.
The award is given to the best player in the world at that time - something which the former Manchester City striker believes is not too far out of reach.
He told Chinese media: "Ronaldo and Messi are in this moment the best and nobody's like them. Impossible.
"But if I had a good year, without injury and fully focused, I think it's not impossible for me to win.
"But even if one day I win, I think Ronaldo and Messi are the best because they won four or five times."
Balotelli fine form has led to reports of another move, but he has played down returning to Liverpool or another former club, Inter Milan.
He added: "If go back to England For sure not Liverpool because I found myself very bad in Liverpool. I said the team was good and the fans were amazing, but I would never go back to Liverpool.
"The first one I think of in England is Manchester City, and the second team I always liked is Arsenal.
"That doesn't mean I'll go to play there. I just like them."
It comes just a week after ex-Arsenal crock Abou Diaby also claimed he could have won the Ballon d’Or… if he wasn’t injured so much in his stop-start career.
The Frenchman, now playing for Marseille, has made less than 200 career appearances despite being in the 13th season of his career.
Diaby left the Premier League Gunners last summer but, somewhat predictably, is sidelined currently with a foot injury.
Speaking to France Football, Diaby said: "I have no limits. Once upon a time, people would ask me about the Ballon D’Or.
"I told them I dreamt about it. I have always had big ambitions, like to become one of the best in my position. I think that I had the potential to achieve that."