Paris Saint Germain's Zlatan Ibrahimovic has revealed he hopes Santa Claus wins the Ballon d'Or rather than the three high-profile contenders for the prize.

The Sweden international was touted as a potential winner of the prize himself before Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Franck Ribery were named on a three-man shortlist for the award, which will be presented to the winner on January 13.

Speaking to the press in Doha, Ibrahimovic joked: “The Ballon d’Or? For me, the three deserve to win it, but the one who must have it is Santa Claus.”

Ibrahimovic will come up against Ronaldo on Thursday as Paris Saint-Germain play Real Madrid in a exhibition match in Qatar and the 32-year-old spoke about his plans for the future with les Parisiens.

More or Less, this was a bit of a more surprising suggestion coming from Ibra, but it doesn't stray far from most of his remarks

Ibrah.. the gift that just keeps on giving.

I heard this guy is going to Celtic before he retires.

heard that too..