Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has shared his views on Lionel Messi's Ballon d'Or victory after Mohamed Salah and Robert Lewandowski were overlooked for the award.
The Paris Saint-Germain forward won the prize for a record seventh time, while Lewandowski was runner-up. Salah, to the surprise of many, finished seventh in the standings.
While there has been some criticism over Messi winning the award over Lewandowski and Salah, Messi won the Copa America with Argentina in the summer, his first senior international trophy.
Guardiola admitted you can 'never say it's unfair' that Messi won an award of such prestige.
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"Don't ask me about that, it is what is is," he told his pre-Aston Villa press conference on Tuesday.
"We can never say it's unfair that Messi wins the Ballon d'Or. It's a show, a nice business to make football more entertainment. A big compliment to Alexia, Pedri, Leo.
"If he deserves it or not, I'm not the guy to say.
"Lewa [Robert Lewandowski] this season and last, the amount of goals and his quality, it would be fair, but at that level with the clubs and teams if they are there they deserve it."
Guardiola also claimed former Liverpool star Steven Gerrard joined an 'incredible' list of Premier League managers when he left Rangers for Aston Villa earlier this month.
Guardiola continued: "He's a manager for the Premier League, I don't believe there's a manager in the PL who isn't good.
"They can train good players, there are incredible managers in all aspects."
