“Ronaldo is a good player but he is certainly not the best,” said Mourinho.

“He deserved the Golden Ball award because his team won the Champions League and the Premier League. But, for me, Ibrahimovic is the best.”

Mourinho also said he is not chasing Chelsea’s Dider Drogba, but admitted he will let striker Adriano leave Inter.

The 26-year-old Brazilian forward has been linked with a move to Chelsea or a return to his home country, and is apparently now free to leave in the January transfer window.

“(Club president) Massimo Moratti and I want him to stay,” said Mourinho.

“However, if he asked me to leave I would not oppose it. He has 10 years of football left to play.”

He added: “I have never hidden my special relationship with Didier but I do not need another striker as I have Hernan Crespo, Julio Cruz, Mario Balotelli and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

“But Drogba is more than a player for me, he is a part of me, an extension of the coach on the pitch.”

With Italian champions Inter set to face Manchester United in the last 16 of the Champions league next February, Mourinho has begun talking up his players.

And the former Chelsea boss believes his fellow Portuguese, Ronaldo, “is certainly not the best” player in the world.

“When I think how a player should be, names like Kaka, Ibrahimovic and (Lionel) Messi come to mind,” said Mourinho.

“Messi is great and in two or three years’ time he will win the Golden Ball (Ballon d’Or) award.”

BBC