Terem Moffi tips Real Madrid captain Benzema as favourite to win Ballon d'Or

Nigerian international Terem Moffi believes Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema is the favourite to win this year's Ballon d'Or award.

The award organised by the French Football Magazine is set to take place on Monday, October 17, at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, France.

With Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo out of the picture this time round, the winner will be decided between Real Madrid's Karim Benzema, Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski, and Bayern Munich's Sadio Mane.

While Moffi would have preferred his African brother Sadio Mane to win the coveted award, he believes that the French striker deserves the award considering his achievements over the past season.

“For the Ballon d’Or, it’s not up to me to say whether Benzema deserves it or not,” Moffi told Ouest France as quoted by Soccernetng.

“But he won everything, he scored a lot of goals… Sadio Mané was also very successful, scoring very important goals. My favorite choice would go for my ‘African brother’, but I think Benzema should win, thanks to his performances with Real Madrid and the France team.”

The 23-year-old added that he sees Karim Benzema as a role model, a striker he admires and learns a lot from as a young striker.

“Everyone knows what kind of player Karim Benzema is,” the 23-year-old added.

“As a young striker, we watch what he does, the way he behaves on the pitch, and how he carries his team. He is a very good player, and we are inevitably influenced by what he does.

“He has all the palette that a striker should have: he works in midfield, he knows how to keep the ball, dribble, make decisive passes, and of course score a lot of goals.

“He is incredible. To perform as he has for many years, I think he pays great attention to his body, his diet, his sleep, his lifestyle. He takes care of himself and I think that’s the most important thing for a professional footballer. He is inspiring.

“For me, he is a model, even if I also look at many other attackers: Erling Haaland, Olivier Giroud, of course Romelu Lukaku or Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. If I was in the same team as him, of course I would be a substitute. But it would be an honor, we would learn a lot of things by his side.”

Karim Benzema led Real Madrid to their 14th European triumph last season, contributing an astonishing 15 goals in their UCL campaign.

WDN