Unless something truly unexpected happens over the next five months, Cristiano Ronaldo will win the 2017 Ballon d’Or in December.

The Real Madrid superstar is the 1/33 favourite with bookmakers. Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, meanwhile, is way behind in second place priced at 16/1.

After winning La Liga and the Champions League with Los Blancos, Ronaldo will seal the fifth Ballon d’Or award of his career at the end of the year - putting him level with Messi, who secured his fifth Ballon d’Or back in 2015.

There’s no doubt that history will remember Ronaldo as one of the greatest footballers of all time.

In the eyes of some football fans, he is *the* greatest of all time.

There’s certainly a strong argument to suggest Ronaldo is currently the best striker in the world, even if you believe Messi is the better all-round footballer.

This is the first season since the 2009-10 campaign - Ronaldo’s first at the Bernabeu - that the Portuguese forward has failed to score over 50 goals in all competitions for Madrid.

However, he still managed to finish the season with an impressive 42 goals in 46 appearances. A return that almost every other top-class striker would be ecstatic with.

How has Ronaldo become the world's best striker?

But how, exactly, has Ronaldo managed to become the best No. 9 on the planet?

Remember, this was a player who began his career as a skillful winger; a player who loved to beat opponents for fun with his trickery and guile.

During his first three seasons with Manchester United, he scored 27 goals in 137 appearances.

And during his six seasons at Old Trafford, he netted just one hat-trick.

Nobody could have envisaged during the early years of his career that Ronaldo would eventually smash Real Madrid’s all-time goalscoring record.

Hard work and dedication to his profession are, of course, the biggest factors behind Ronaldo’s rise to the top - few players, if any, work as hard.

New video shows Ronaldo's amazing off-the-ball movement

But a new video on YouTube shows how Ronaldo has mastered the art of off-the-ball movement to become the world’s best striker.

The three-minute video - uploaded by ‘Om Arvind’ - reveals the tricks Ronaldo uses to buy himself that all-important yard of space he requires to score his goals.

Wonder how Ronaldo always seems to be in the right place at the right time? This video provides an explanation…

Is Cristiano Ronaldo the best goalscorer in history? Have your say by leaving a comment below.