Ferdinand hails Lewandowski 'He's the closest to Van Basten'

Rio Ferdinand has heaped praise on Robert Lewandowski as the best striker in the world right now.

Rio Ferdinand has so much praise for Lewandowski and believes the striker is the next best thing to legendary Marco van Basten.

The Polish forward has scored 53 goals in all competitions so far this season for Bayern. That tally marks the most prolific season so far in his career.

At the moment, a number of figures have described Lewandowski as the best player in world football right now.

Rightly so, he was a strong contender to win the Ballon d’Or award had it not been cancelled this year.

Just before the Barcelona-Bayern kick-off, Gary Lineker described Lewandowski as the best striker on the planet at the moment.

Ferdinand agreed and went on to compare the striker to an all-time great in Van Basten.

Rio Ferdinand thinks Robert Lewandowski should start a petition to get the Ballon d’Or back on. pic.twitter.com/vnp91zCN9X
— XxZoroRoronoaxX (@XxRoronoax) August 14, 2020

“Yeah, Lewandowski, in terms of what he’s done this year in terms of just goals alone, let alone his performances,” Ferdinand said as quoted by Goal.

“He had a hand in every goal in the last round against Chelsea. He’s not just an out-and-out goalscorer. He scores the goals as you’d expect from a No. 9, he can come over the back post, he scores the little deft touches, brings other people into the game. As a No. 9, he’s probably the closest I’ve seen to Marco van Basten.”

Ferdinand also claimed Lewandowski would have won the Ballon d’Or this season for sure.

“If I’m Lewandowski and they have cancelled the Ballon d’Or, I’m starting up a petition to get it back on,” Ferdinand added.

“Aside from the year when Luka Modric won it, Messi and Ronaldo have dominated that award for the last 12 years and Lewandowski has taken himself to the next level this season.”

“I can’t believe they have cancelled it. It’s cruel, that is a good word to describe it. Lewandowski deserves to win that award for what he has done this season and if he leads Bayern Munich to the Champions League and they still decide they won’t give it out to him, it’s not right.”