Pascal Ferry, editor-in-chief of the French magazine France Football, which awards the Ballon d'Or, has revealed that Cristiano Ronaldo admitted to him that his only goal is to win more golden balls than Lionel Messi, before retiring.
The Paris Saint-Germain striker is close to winning the 2021 edition of the award, and if the expectations and leaks are true, Messi, 34, will get his seventh Golden Ball, while Ronaldo, 36, is satisfied with 5 balls.
Ferry told The New York Times, "Ronaldo has only one wish, which is to retire with more golden balls than Messi. That's what Ronaldo himself told me."
Ferry stressed that the name of the Ballon d'Or winner is one of football's best kept secrets.
Ferry added, "This is my sixth year in charge of this event, and I have never been wrong."
He concluded by saying, "I don't want to lie (to those who ask who the winner is). But I tell them that I can't share the names of the winners because the last ones didn't know yet, and it wouldn't be right for them not to be the first to know."
The French journalist also revealed that Luka Modric "cried like a baby" when Vieri informed him that he was the 2018 Ballon d'Or winner.