Manchester City midfielder Rodri has done it – he has officially won the 2024 Ballon d’Or.
The Spaniard has finally been recognised as the best footballer on the planet, following a truly outstanding year for both club and country.
Rodri had been superb in City’s 2022/23 Treble-winning season. And he then followed that up with another stellar campaign which saw him lose just one game all season.
Rodri made 50 appearances for City last season, scoring nine goals and laying on 14 assists for teammates.
It was his best campaign ever for goal contributions, and he was his usual dominant self in terms of protecting the backline and dictating the tempo of games.
Rodri won three trophies for Manchester City last season – the UEFA Super Cup, the Club World Cup – in which he was the Player of the Match – and of course the Premier League title.
Rodri was also outstanding for Spain. After previously winning the Nations League, Rodri then helped his country to win Euro 2024 and was the Player of the Tournament.
Without a doubt, Rodri is a totally deserving winner of the Ballon d’Or – and City fans have been euphoric tonight on social media.
Man City fans react as Rodri is named Ballon d’Or winner
It had been suggested a couple of weeks ago that Real Madrid winger Vinicius Jr was going to win the 2024 Ballon d’Or.
But those claims were wide of the mark. Earlier today, speculation picked up that Rodri was going to win, because Vinicius and all other representatives of Real Madrid would not be attending the ceremony.
It proved to be the case that Rodri had won.
Real Madrid fans are furious that Rodri won the Ballon d’Or over Vinicius Junior.
But so many City fans are absolutely elated that their club has now produced an official Ballon d’Or winner.
Rodri is such a deserving winner
There is a lot of saltiness tonight on social media from rival fanbases, especially Real Madrid supporters who felt Vinicius should have been the winner.
But it just cannot be claimed that Rodri is an undeserving winner.
He has totally revolutionised the defensive midfielder role, and he is now the absolute gold standard for the position.
He hardly ever has a bad game for club or country, and we have seen what can happen to City when he doesn’t play.
We have had so many years of attacking players winning this award and it is nice to finally see a holding midfielder – and a truly phenomenal one at that – get his due credit.
As a former defensive midfielder himself, Pep Guardiola is likely to be absolutely delighted tonight.
