Kante finished eighth in the voting for the Ballon d'Or in 2017 on Thursday, second only to Luka Modric among central midfielders, as Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo claimed the award for a fifth time to draw level with Barcelona great Lionel Messi.

Conte revealed that he was "proud" of the France international's achievement, but conceded that a player like him is unlikely to ever claim the top prize due to the nature and history of the award.

"When I was a player I wanted to win the Ballon d'Or, but I knew [from] my characeristics my potential, that it was impossible," Conte said.

"I won a lot in my career. I won everything. I was captain of Juventus for many years. I lost two finals in the World Cup and European Championships, but at same time you know very well [yourself] if you can reach level to win the Ballon d'Or.

"I think in our team there are players who can reach this level. Others are not able, like me. Honestly I don't know if Kante can win the Ballon d'Or in his life because of the characreristics of this player. He doesn't score a lot of goals. He is a great worker.

The Ballon d'Or is the Ballon d'Or but for a coach Kante has to win, for every coach. If you ask coaches we would take this decision.

"But in reality it would be very difficult for him to win. Paolo Maldini never won, but he was the best defender in the world. Gianluigi Buffon never won, and he was the best goalkeeper in the world for many years. But this is the story of the Ballon d'Or. You have to respect it is a particular classification."

One player that Conte does believe could one day take home the top prize is Eden Hazard, but only if the Belgian finds the same "hunger" that has underpinned the dominance and consistent excellence of Messi and Ronaldo.

"When you see these players you see a hunger in every moment," Conte added. "Score one goal they want to score the second, score second want to score the third. They are very hungry and for that reason they are special. They want to win .

"It is not important if last season Ronaldo won -- now if you ask him or Messi they are going to play another World Cup with the same hunger because they have hunger.They want to win, win, win and continue.

"The past is not important for these players. For these reasons I have great, great respect for them, because to stay at that level you have to work very hard.

"I like to call it a 'sacred fire.' When you have it inside you, the will to win every game to score goals. Every one of us, we have this sacred fire and we have to find the right solution to improve it.

"At this level you must have this type of situation. Then the flame can be big or little. When you have an inferno it means you are like Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar."

Asked if Hazard could find the same quality within himself, Conte replied: "He is an important player for us and during games he can make the difference for us. This is important. But at the same time I am his coach and I try to push him. But not only him -- I push all of my players to do their best in training.

"Eden has right characteristics to try to fight with these giants. He has the characteristics, so then he has to try to do this, and to improve his position in this table in the next year. He has the potential to do this but it is not simple to overcome this."