Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have dominated football for the best part of 12 years now, winning every Ballon d'Or award since 2007 all bar one.

But before them there was Kaka, who during his time at AC Milan was regarded as the best player in the world.

His finest year came in 2007, when he won the Champions League, Serie A Player of the Year, UEFA Club Player of the Year, FIFPro World Player of the Year and FIFA World Player of the Year.

It culminated in the Brazilian winning the 2007 Ballon d'Or ahead of Ronaldo - who was at Manchester United at the time - in second and Messi in third.

Kaka was incredible during his prime. An attacking midfielder by trade, he combined creativity with the kind of raw speed and power you would expect from a striker.

He was ruthless in front of goal, too, and never ceased to amaze with his 30-yard solo runs that inevitably ended up with a composed finish or an inch-perfect pass.

Dispossessing Kaka was impossible once he reached top speed and to this day no player has come close to replicating his style of play.

A £56.1m move to Real Madrid transpired in 2009 and from there it all went downhill for Kaka, who became injury prone.

Playing second fiddle to Ronaldo didn't help either, but Kaka was never able to rediscover his previous form.

Four years in Madrid saw Kaka return to Milan before spells at Sao Paolo and Orlando City in the MLS, where he retired 2017.

Were it not for his injuries and troubled spell at Real, Kaka would have undoubtedly become one of the greatest players in history.

It's easy to forget just how good he was during his prime, so we've dug up an old video of Kaka doing what he does best at Milan called 'The Unstoppable Footballer'.

What a player he was.

It's a shame Kaka was never able to realise his true potential, because if he had, Messi and Ronaldo's duopoly probably would have never existed.