Cristiano Ronaldo Wins Ballon d’Or, Real Madrid Exit Rumors Still Persist Though

Cristiano Ronaldo was awarded the 2015 Ballon d’Or at an award ceremony in Zurich on Monday, beating Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Bayern Munich’s Manuel Neur to the accolade.

This was the second year in a row that the Portuguese forward picked up the gong, and it was the third time in total he had claimed the Ballon d’Or. Cristiano Ronaldo won the Ballon d’Or for the first time in 2009 while playing for Manchester United.

Cristiano Ronaldo collected 37.66 percent of the votes to comprehensively claim victory. Lionel Messi finished in second place with 15.76 percent while Manuel Neur rounded off the top three with 15.72 percent.

According to BBC News, upon being handed the award by Thierry Henry, Cristiano Ronaldo was quick to thank his Real Madrid colleagues.

“I would like to thank all of those who voted for me, my president, my coach and Real Madrid. It has been an unforgettable year. To win this trophy at the end of it is something incredibly unique…

I want to continue to work as I have so far, to try and win more titles, for my mother, for my father, for my son. To all the Portuguese people out there: I never thought that I would take this trophy back on three occasions. I want to become one of the greatest players of all time.”

However, before Ronaldo had even got his hands on the award, rumors had started to swirl that suggested he is considering leaving the Bernabeu.

According to the Mirror, after be asked whether he might move away from Real Madrid at some point in the future, Ronaldo admitted, “Nobody knows, only God knows. The future, I don’t know, but I’m very happy at Real.”

Cristiano Ronaldo did only sign a new contract with Real Madrid last year, but he teased that doesn’t mean he will remain with the club for the foreseeable future.

“I signed a new deal one year ago,” he continued, “but, the future, you never know.”

Over the last few months, Ronaldo has constantly been linked with a transfer back to Manchester United, where he played between 2003 and 2009.

There have even been rumors that Manchester United manager Louis Van Gaal is preparing a huge bid to try and lure Ronaldo back to Old Trafford. Manchester United fans have repeatedly made it known that they would love to have Ronaldo back on their books.

Not only do they constantly chant his name whenever they are playing, but they even orchestrated a plane carrying a banner to fly over a match he was playing in back in September, which read, “Come Home Ronaldo – United REEL.”

[Image via Radio Americahn]