Maradona: Ronaldo - the best ever? Nonsense... I'd have won more Ballons d'Or than him and Messi

The Argentina legend, who won the 1986 World Cup, was not eligible for the award as European players only contested it until 1995.

Real Madrid star Ronaldo took the gong this year, levelling up his total with Barcelona's Messi on five. But Maradona believes he would have been even more dominant than them both.

"Ballon d'Or? As a trophy... it's very difficult to give a Ballon d'Or to only player because always giving it to Ronaldo or Messi is boring," he said.

"Who else deserves it? Maybe Cavani, Mbappe, Ibrahimovic, but I don't know. There were more [contenders] before.

When asked about not being able to win the trophy due to the earlier rules during his career, Maradona replied: "No, no...I'd have more than Ronaldo and Messi."

The 57-year-old also disputed Ronaldo's claim to be the greatest ever

"Ronaldo said he is the best ever? Tell him to stop talking nonsense!" added the Al Fujairah head coach.

The Argentina legend also had some advice for Real as they try to turn their season around in Spain - sign France teenage sensation Kylian Mbappe from Paris St Germain and give Gareth Bale away for free.

Real's record signing Bale has endured another nightmare season with injuries but fired the European champions into the Club World Cup final on Wednesday by striking the winner in a nervy 2-1 win over Abu Dhabi side Al Jazira.

Real will face Gremio in Sunday's decider to add some more silverware to manager Zinedine Zidane's trophy cabinet. But they are still eight points behind Barcelona in La Liga.

Yet Argentina's former World Cup winning captain said things might have been different had president Florentino Perez heeded his advice.

"I told Florentino to sign Mbappe but he told me he had Cristiano Ronaldo," Maradona said in an interview with AS.

Asked where signing Mbappe would leave Bale, Maradona said: "They should sell Bale, they should give him away. I expect Florentino wouldn't, but maybe he can do a deal, and let Bale go to AC Milan or Inter (Milan).

Maradona also said Messi could take a leaf out of his book when it comes to rallying the national team at next year's tournament in Russia.

"Messi is not capable of giving a team talk to 20 guys and motivating them like I did," Maradona said of Argentina's captain and all-time top scorer, who has never won a major international trophy despite reaching four finals.

"He would just say 'What do you want to ask me?' and they would ask him all the questions."