Stewart Robson has claimed that a certain Manchester City player is deserving of winning the Ballon d’Or.
The closest a City player has come to winning the award is Erling Haaland, when he finished as the runner-up behind Lionel Messi in 2023 and Kevin De Bruyne in 2022 — who was voted in third place behind Sadio Mane and Karim Benzema.
However, since Pep Guardiola’s arrival in 2016, Manchester City players have perhaps had a better chance of winning the accolade due to the staggering success he has spearheaded the club to during his reign.
Recently, Rico Lewis claimed that Rodri should win the Ballon d’Or.
While Pep Guardiola admitted that he would be delighted if the Manchester City midfielder took home the award.
- READ MORE: Who is Rodri? Get to know Man City’s modest midfield maestro who won a Champions League final
Stewart Robson makes Rodri Ballon d’Or case
The last time a defensive-minded player won the award was Fabio Cannavaro in 2006, primarily due to his lionhearted displays in the heart of Italy’s World Cup-winning backline.
Since then, only attacking players like Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema have won the Ballon d’Or, with 2018’s winner, Luka Modric also primarily being a midfielder who does his best work going forward.
But it seems like the Spaniard may especially have a chance of winning the award due to potential fellow candidates such as Vinicius Junior, Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden not having their finest international campaigns.
When quizzed about who he thinks should win the Ballon d’Or, Stewart Robson did not hesitate in mentioning Rodri.
“I would go with Rodri personally because I think he dominates games, he’s been unbeaten for certain games, he’s only been beaten in only one game, that was the [FA Cup] final, he’s an inspiration for his team, he’s an inspiration for his country.”
“Without him, Man City wouldn’t have won the title I think and without him, Spain wouldn’t have won the European Championship.”
Rodri has the best chance a Man City player has ever had of winning the Ballon d’Or
Rodri perhaps is best-positioned to win the Ballon d’Or in a way that even Haaland was not due to the fairytale of Lionel Messi lifting the World Cup aligning with his treble-winning campaign.
The £62.5 million man’s importance to both Manchester City and Spain is widely praised, as Stewart Robson also mentioned how his absence would have meant both teams would have failed to win the Premier League and Euro 2024 respectively.
Rarely is a player as crucial as Rodri is for both club and country and with him sustaining his excellence throughout both tournaments, voters could perhaps be inclined to vote for him.
When the voting for the Ballon d’Or collides with an international tournament being held, the players who win the competition tend to have a massive chance of winning the award; a factor that the midfield maestro has at his disposal as well.
