Real Madrid forward Vinícius Júnior has addressed his Ballon d'Or prospects, saying several Brazil legends including Ronaldinho and Ronaldo have set the expectation for him to lift the prestigious individual award.
Speaking to CNN, Vinícius said he has used his legendary compatriots as inspiration having played a key role as Los Blancos won the Champions League and LaLiga last term.
"I have Kaká as an example, I have Ronaldo [Nazário] who won the award twice, I have Ronaldinho, Rivaldo, a lot of Brazilian players who have won the Ballon d'Or," he said. "But without a doubt, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho are the ones I'm closest with, who tell me every day that I have to win the Ballon d'Or.
"I was with Ronaldo just now when I was in Ibiza and trained at his house and he told me: 'Train here a few more days, so you are closer to the Ballon d'Or.'
"They are players who did incredible things and to be able to compete for the Ballon d'Or and to win an award that they won, that would be something really incredible."
Vinícius also talked up the influence of women's football great Marta, who retired from international football after her team's defeat in the Olympic final at the Paris 2024 Games.
"I have to talk about Marta, who is the greatest to ever play the [women's game]. I have great affection for her because I believe she changed the sport and put women's football on the level it deserves.
"Women's football is growing day by day and Marta was one of the pioneers," he said. "Marta is for us is what Pelé was for everyone in Brazil, like Ayrton Senna, she's from a level where there is one person in every million."
After Kylian Mbappé's arrival at Madrid this summer, Vinícius said that he thinks the team can compete for the game's biggest prizes for the next ten years amid reports that he is subject to a huge offer from the Saudi Pro League.
"We already made it this far [winning two Champions Leagues in three years], it was really hard. But to stay at the highest level, it's much harder, so I want to stay at this level for a long time and be able to win as many Champions League as [Dani] Carvajal, [Luka] Modrić, Nacho and Toni [Kroos], who won six," he said.
"We might have one of the best teams for the next decade, and now, we have to show on the pitch that we can perform. And I, along with my teammates, each time, each game we play, we can get closer to winning Real Madrid more titles."