'Mbappé poised to be the next Ballon d'Or winner: Cristiano Ronaldo confident in French star's potential at Real Madrid'

Portugal striker Cristiano Ronaldo has expressed his support for current Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappe to win the Ballon d'Or in the future. Ronaldo shared his thoughts on his recently launched YouTube channel on Tuesday (Sep 10), praising the Frenchman and predicting a bright future for him at the Spanish club. Despite being nominated for the 2024 Ballon d'Or, Ronaldo himself was surprisingly left out of the list for the first time since 2006, as announced last week.

"I think [Mbappé] will do well. The structure of the club ... it's nice, it's good," Ronaldo said on his newly-launched YouTube channel.

"They have a great coach and the president, Florentino [Pérez], who has been there many many years. I think it won't be a big problem because of his talent. Mbappé can be the next golden ball [Ballon d'Or] winner. Him, [Erling] Haaland, [Jude] Bellingham, Lamine [Yamal]," he added.

The 30-man shortlist for the Ballon d’Or was released last week with Ronaldo and Lionel Messi missing out on nomination for the first time since 2003. The Portugal star, now playing in Saudi Pro League (SPL) has backed Mbappe to shine having made a summer move to Madrid from Paris Saint-Germain.

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While he failed to score in his opening two La Liga matches, the striker has since scored for Los Blancos. He scored on his club debut against Atalanta in August in the UEFA Super Cup.

While Ronaldo predicts Mbappe to win the Ballon d’Or, it is hard to make a case this season with a host of star names in the running. As things stand, Mbappe’s Real teammate Vinicius Jr is the front-runner to win the prestigious prize while Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham are also in the mix. The likes of Toni Kroos, Dani Carvajal and Luka Modric remain other players from Madrid to be nominated for the Ballon d’Or.