Real Madrid and Spain centre-back Sergio Ramos has admitted that he would love to follow in the footsteps of Fabio Cannavaro by winning the Ballon d'Or.

Former Juventus and Italy great Cannavaro was the last defender to win the prestigious accolade, seeing off competition from Gianluigi Buffon and Kaka in 2006.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have won nine of the last 10 awards since, but Ramos believes that beating those two players to be crowned the best in the world would not be as "crazy" as some suggest.

"The Ballon d'Or has been a personal affair lately between Messi and Ronaldo," he told reporters. "But Cannavaro, for example, who was a friend of mine, won it. I do not see [the idea of winning] it as crazy. If they gave it to me, it would be a historical moment."

Kaka is the only other player to have won the Ballon d'Or since Cannavaro triumphed 11 years ago.