SOCCER
Cristiano Ronaldo reveals four-man list of future Ballon d’Or winners
The Real Madrid legend has named an incredible quartet of global stars, two of whom play for his former team.
The 30-man shortlist for the 2024 Ballon d’Or was released last week, celebrating the top performers of the past 12 months. Many of the usual names were included, with some notable exceptions, and but there is no consensus pick for this year’s award.
Former Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo won the award five times from 2008 to 2017, amassing an incredible 18 nominations across the course of his career. Speaking to former teammate Rio Ferdinand on his YouTube channel, Ronaldo revealed who he thinks will win the Ballon d’Or in years to come.
“[Kylian] Mbappé can be the next golden ball winner. Him, [Erling] Haaland, [Jude] Bellingham, Lamine [Yamal],” Ronaldo explained.
For years Mbappé and Haaland have been hailed as the next generation of true elites, the heirs to Ronaldo and his El Clásico rival Lionel Messi. But neither of those players have yet managed to prise a Ballon d’Or from the grasp of the old guard. This could well be their year.
What did Cristiano Ronaldo say about Kylian Mbappé?
At the start of the summer, Real Madrid finally completed a deal that had been a decade in the making. Los Blancos had tracked Kylian Mbappé since he was a talented teenager in Monaco’s academy and finally brought him to the Santiago Bernabéu.
Mbappé scored in his club debut in the UEFA Super Cup but underwhelmed in his first LaLiga appearances. There was some suggestion that Mbappé, previously deployed on the left, was struggling to adapt to his new, more central posting.
Ronaldo rubbished the suggestion that Mbappé may not be a success in the Spanish capital, insisting that he would thrive at the “best club ever”.
“I think [Mbappé] will do well. The structure of the club.. It’s nice, it’s good,” Ronaldo explained. “Now, if you say that Madrid is going to be better or not, we don’t know. Mbappé is there now, I think Madrid will keep strong, but I don’t know if they will be better than last year. Only God knows.”
Kylian Mbappé will return to Madrid this week ahead of the return of domestic action on Saturday. Real Madrid take on Real Sociedad in LaLiga, before their Champions League opener against Stuttgart on Tuesday, September 17. Now, after a few months to adjust to a new team, we may start to see the best of Mbappé in Madrid.