Manchester City‘s midfield maestro Rodri has claimed he feels like he has already bagged the Ballon d’Or.
The Spaniard, who played a pivotal role in City‘s Premier League triumph and Spain’s Euro 2024 victory over England, is yet to taste defeat in a full match since March 2023.
Former England forwards Alan Shearer and Gary Lineker have touted the midfielder to win the award, but Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior is still the bookies’ hot pick after a sensational season winning La Liga and the UEFA Champions League – with a goal in the final against Dortmund at Wembley.
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“People say I’m going to fight with Vinicius, who is someone I admire. I think he is a great player,” Rodri explained to ESPN.
“Just being in the conversation makes me very proud of the work I’ve put in. It will depend a little bit on what people value [when they vote], what they believe, and honestly, there are a lot of players who deserve to win it, so we will see what the decision is.”
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(Image: UEFA via Getty Images)
Rodri has expressed his delight at being considered for the Ballon d’Or, stating: “But imagine for me, to be in the conversation that the people when I walk into the street, they say to me, ‘You’re going to win the Ballon d’Or, you deserve it’.
“And for me, that means I am already a winner with this. The people that believe that I can be the best player in the world and telling me these kind of things, for me is incredible. I never dream about this.
“But once you are in this situation, this position, because a lot of years of work, a lot of trust on yourself and the help of all the people, you think about this award and being there is just unbelievable,” reports the Mirror.
(Image: Getty Images)
History is not particularly exactly on Rodri’s side; a Spanish male player has not clinched the Ballon d’Or since Luis Suarez (not that one) in 1960, with Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez narrowly missing out to their Barcelona colleague Lionel Messi in 2010.
Moreover, a defensive midfielder has not won the accolade since Germany’s Lothar Matthaus in 1990 the same year he won the World Cup in Italy.