Antoine Griezmann paid the ultimate compliment to a Premier League player by putting him on the same level as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi back in 2016.
Just over a decade ago and Griezmann was voted as the third best player in the world after an excellent year with Atletico Madrid and France.
In the 2016 Ballon d’Or voting, Ronaldo claimed the France Football award by a record margin of 429 points ahead of Messi after winning the Champions League and European Championship.
Messi came second with 316 points but Griezmann’s performances were also recognised by 173 journalists as he took the final podium spot with 198, having fired France to the Euro 2016 final as top scorer with six goals.
He also found the net 22 times in the 2015/16 La Liga campaign and helped Atleti reach the Champions League final, where they lost on penalties to Ronaldo’s Real.
Eighth on the Ballon d’Or shortlist in 2016 was Jamie Vardy, who hit 24 goals in 36 games as Leicester City won the Premier League in one of football’s greatest fairytales.
He was named Premier League Player of the Season after a record-breaking goalscoring run and Griezmann picked him as the third best player of the year.
“Cristiano Ronaldo, as he’s won two titles, Lionel Messi because he’s unique and after that maybe Jamie Vardy for winning the English title with Leicester,” he said in an interview with Goal for their Goal 50 awards.
Griezmann played against Vardy a year later in the Champions League, scoring the only goal in a 1-0 quarter final first leg win.
Vardy was on target in the second leg where Leicester drew 1-1 with Atletico, but were eliminated from the competition on aggregate.
The former Real Sociedad and Barcelona forward also picked out his two coaches of the year – one being Claudio Ranieri for delivering that 5000/1 Premier League title triumph.
Antoine Griezmann is a big fan of Jamie Vardy. Image: Getty
He added: “My two coaches: Diego Simeone and Didier Deschamps. After them, Claudio Ranieri for his work at Leicester. It was unexpected (Leicester becoming champions), especially against teams like Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool. It’s something incredible that they won the championship.”
With 198 goals in 496 games, Vardy will go down as one of Leicester’s greatest ever players.
The 38-year-old has announced he will be leaving the Foxes after 13 seasons when his contract expires at the end of the season and has attracted interest from clubs in Saudi Arabia, the United States and England.
