Arsene Wenger: Cristiano Ronaldo is the best player in the world

Cristiano Ronaldo is the best player in the world at the moment, according to Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger.

In a question and answer session on Twitter, the Arsenal manager was asked who he considers to be the top player right now. And the Frenchman, who recently celebrated 17 years as boss of the north London side, said 28-year-old Ronaldo is the hottest property in world football – ahead of Barcelona forward Lionel Messi.

The Portuguese scored a hat trick at the weekend against Real Sociedad to take his La Liga tally to 16 already this season. It was his 23rd treble in a Real Madrid shirt, and astonishingly, he has scored 226 goals in 216 games for Los Blancos since his arrival at the Santiago Bernabeu in the summer of 2009.

Ronaldo and Messu are on the shortlist of players nominated for the Ballon D’Or award. Along with Bayern Munich’s Franck Ribery, the great rivals are considered among the favourites for the gong, which Messi has won for the last four consecutive years.

When asked who was the best player, Wenger said: “It’s difficult, Messi was on top until now but in the last year maybe Ronaldo is in front, he is very athletic.”