Ballon d'Or claimer Gerard Pique has claimed the Ballon d'Or for Erling Haaland of Borussia Dortmund and Kylian Mbappe of Paris Saint-Germain, highlighting their potential to win the renowned individual award in the future.

After Lionel Messi of Paris Saint-Germain and Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United retire, Haaland and Mbappe are expected to form the next great player rivalry.

Since exploding onto the scene and taking the world by storm with their extraordinary talents, the duo has been tremendously impressed.

Haaland, 21, has been shown to be a goal-scoring machine. Since joining Dortmund in 2019, the Norwegian has 85 goals and 23 assists in 87 games for the Bundesliga club.

Mbappe, 23, meanwhile, has scored a staggering 167 goals and made 84 assists in 214 appearances for PSG since joining the French Ligue 1 champions in 2017.

Speaking to Gary Neville on The Overlap, Pigue said: “I think they are two of the best right now. They have the potential to win the Ballon d’Or for sure. I think Haaland is more of a pure striker, strong, physical with a lot of goals, and Mbappe is a more complete player; he can play as a winger and striker.”

He added: “Both are very good. I didn’t get the opportunity to play against Haaland. I played against Mbappe. It is difficult to choose.”