Paul Pogba has hit the headlines in recent weeks after reports suggested that both Manchester United and Real Madrid are attempting the sign the Juventus midfielder.
The 23-year-old is being touted as a future Ballon d’Or winner but he still has a lot of work to do to be compared to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
The two superstars have dominated where the Ballon d'Or is concerned with Kaka being the last different player to collect the award back in 2007.
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While Pogba may have won four consecutive league titles for The Old Lady and established himself as one of the best midfielders in world football, you need to be really special to be mentioned in the same breath as Messi and Ronaldo.
Pogba could take a stride towards a future Ballon d’Or win by leading his country to glory this summer at the European Championships, but the former United player is well aware of what he needs to improve to be able to rub shoulders with the Barca and Madrid legends.
"Goals for one. Titles too,” he told L’Equipe.
“I need to improve my performances during games and be more decisive.
"Messi and Cristiano score against every team, and not just in one or two seasons, during their whole careers.”
Goal record
Pogba has more defensive duties than Messi and Ronaldo but his point regarding goals is a valid one. During his four years in Turin, the Frenchman has scored 34 goals in all competitions - not a terrible return for a central midfielder.
However, those figures pale into insignificance when you look at the tallies of Messi of Ronaldo. The Argentine has scored 200 over the past four campaigns while the Portuguese has notched an incredible 218.
Eyes on the prize
But despite being a little way off two of the greatest footballers the world has ever seen, it hasn’t stopped Pogba from dreaming about winning the Ballon d’Or in the coming years.
"I'd love to win the Ballon d'Or. It's a dream for me…the thought's always in a corner of my head. I'm not saying I will win it, just that I'd like to.
"It's an objective, like winning the Champions League. Some might say I'm crazy, but I like to do crazy things. Anyway, at the moment there are two phenomenal players scoring 60 goals a season."
Replacing Pirlo
Pogba has filled the void left by Andrea Pirlo at Juventus after the legendary Italian midfielder left for the MLS last year. But Pogba insists that he doesn’t want to follow in Pirlo’s footsteps, instead, he wants to establish himself as the best, rather than attempting to emulate another player.
"I want to be the best, I don't want to be like everyone else. When I do something, I like to differentiate myself from the rest and I don't like to lose," he added.
"Pirlo is the model player. He's always sure of himself. In the 88th minute of a match when tension is high, he'll remain cool as ice and do something decisive - a cutting pass or a shot outside the box. He's always precise."
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