CRISTIANO RONALDO is definitely not the best player of all-time according to Antonio Cassano – with the Manchester United star not even in his top five.
Cassano did not mince his words when discussing Ronaldo's credentials as one of the best players of all-time on fellow ex-Italy star Christian Vieiri's Twitch channel.
Responding to comments made by Ronaldo's agent, Jorge Mendes, claiming that Ronaldo should win this year's Ballon d'Or, Cassano said: "Enough theatre.
"Is Cristiano Ronaldo the best in the history of football?
"He is not even in the top five.
"For me, Messi, Pele, [Maradona, Cruyff and Ronaldo [Nazario] are on another level."
The controversial striker, who played for Real Madrid for two years prior to Ronaldo's arrival in 2009, retired in 2017 after a career in which he became better known for his antics off the field than on it.
During a press conference at Euro 2012 with Italy, Cassano was asked whether he thought there were any gay players in the Azzurri squad, to which he said: “I hope there are none."
He was fined £13,000 by Uefa for his comments and frequently came to blows with former manager Fabio Capello, who said of the striker: “Anarchy is always just around the corner with Cassano."
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It's not the first time Cassano has attacked Ronaldo either, after he publicly slammed the five-time Ballon d'Or winner earlier this year when he was playing for Juventus, saying: "Cristiano only thinks about his goals and records.
"He's always been a bit selfish, he doesn't give a damn about others scoring goals.
"He does not live for the game – he lives for the goal and in this moment the situation is getting worse.
"I think Cristiano has done terribly over the last three years."
Cassano collected four trophies in his career, compared to Ronaldo's 32 – including seven league titles, five Champions Leagues, one European Championship and one Nations League.
The Portuguese forward also holds the record for the most appearances (178), most goals (136) and assists (42) in the Champions League and has scored over 790 official senior career goals.
He also broke the record for the most international goals by a male player (115) this year, as well as the most goals in a European Championship (14).
Ronaldo completed a dream return to Man Utd this summer, signing for just £19.7m, and got off to an ideal start, scoring five goals in his opening five games for the club.
But after a dip in form, he has now scored just one in his last five games, leaving United without a win in their last three league games and boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer under pressure.
Ronaldo has been nominated for this year's Ballon d'Or and has been backed by former boss Sir Alex Ferguson to win the coveted prize ahead of the likes of Messi and Mohamed Salah.
The 79-year-old former Man Utd manager said: “Cristiano Ronaldo deserves the Ballon d’Or. This year he’s broken record after record.”
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