Over the past two seasons, Manchester City have had players in contention for the Ballon d’Or. Last year saw Erling Haaland finish runner-up Lionel Messi for the prestigious award. In all fairness, Haaland probably should’ve taken out the award over the Argentinian legend. The winner of the Ballon d’Or will be announced on the 28th of October in Paris. For the award to be taken seriously, there can only be one winner. That is Manchester City’s midfield general Rodri.
Rodri has been nothing short of sensational over the past 12 months for both club and country. In fairness, he has been arguably the best midfielder in world football for at least two seasons now if not longer. His performances have been crucial to Manchester City’s and Spain’s recent success. He is the heartbeat of the world champions midfield and plays the same role for his country. There is an argument to be made that both Spain and Manchester City aren’t as dominant without Rodri in the heart of their midfield.
The performances of Rodri for both club and country should see him take out the Ballon d’Or later this year. If the award is based on performances on the pitch, Rodri is a shoo-in for the award. But as we saw last year with Messi’s win over Haaland that isn’t always the determining factor in who takes out the award. But Rodri’s case to take out the award is obvious to any keen observer of the game. That isn’t a knock on the hopes and performances of other contenders, such as Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham. The Real Madrid pair have made compelling cases of their own to claim the award. But Rodri surely has to win the award for the Ballon d’Or to be taken seriously.
Rodri is proud to be considered as one of the favourites for the award.
As always Rodri has been humble when discussing his chances to claim the Ballon d’Or later this year. The Spanish international is proud to be considered a contender for the award. He also stressed that individual accolades don’t motivate him. Speaking with TNT Sports he said: “It is great to be there with these players. It is great that the people value your performance and your talent. For me, it’s already a victory what the people say about me, the recognition I have. It’s not something that has pushed me, individual awards. It’s just a consequence of the work. But I think it would be great for my country. We have just won [the Euros], we have some of the best players ever, and we have the best football. It would be good – not just for me, I would say for any Spanish player – for the country.”
Usually, awards such as the Ballon d’Or are taken out by attacking players. Whether it’s goal scorers or playmakers attacking players tend to take out the most prestigious awards in football. But without players like Rodri the attacking players don’t have the platform to shine. Based on this and his overall dominance and performances over the past 12 months Rodri has to win the Ballon d’Or. If he doesn’t then you have to wonder just how serious an award the Ballon d’Or actually is.