Greenwood has enjoyed a strong start to the 2025-2026 season, leading the scorers’ chart in Ligue 1 with 10 goals, while also providing three assists as Marseille sit third in the league.

He has also scored three goals in six UEFA Champions League games this season, including a brace to help his side beat Union Saint-Gilloise 3-2 in midweek.

No player managed to score more than the 24-year-old in the French top-flight last season, with Paris Saint-Germain’s Ousmane Dembele also scoring 21 times.

De Zerbi insisted that Greenwood can reach the very top level of the game, but for now, he still has plenty to improve on.

“I see him every day, he has a huge potential,” De Zerbi said. “I don't see any other players in Europe at the same level.

“He has the potential to win the Ballon d'Or. It will be up to him to decide whether he wants to do everything he can to fight for it or not.

“At the level of the qualities that nature has given him, that his parents have given him, I think he is worthy of the Ballon d'Or.

“I would like him to be more consistent. I know he needs to press with more intensity, he needs to manage the ball better when the team is in trouble, not lose the ball easily but keep it to allow the team to move up because he has the ability to do it.

“I have to leave Marseille in a better situation than when I arrived. Greenwood must be better than the Greenwood I took at the beginning.”