With Rodri being nominated for the Ballon d’Or, Manchester City would be hoping that he becomes the first player in the club’s history to win the award after Erling Haaland finished second in 2023.
City supporters think Rodri should win the Ballon d’Or — spreading the word on social media.
Shaka Hislop claimed Rodri should win the Ballon d’Or over both Vinicius Jr. and Jude Bellingham as well.
The last time a midfielder finished in the top three was Manchester City’s very own Kevin De Bruyne in 2022 — behind Sadio Mane and Karim Benzema.
Apart from Lotthar Matthaus and Matthias Sammer, only attack-minded midfielders such as Luka Modric, Kaka and Pavel Nedved tend to win the award.
As a result, the odds might be stacked against Rodri.
- READ MORE: Who is Rodri? Get to know Man City’s modest midfield maestro who won a Champions League final
Aguero sends Ballon d’Or message to former Man City teammate
Whether it is the Ballon d’Or or the PFA Players’ Player of the Year award, such honours tend to be handed to the attackers.
It could be argued that the number six position is the most important in football.
No great team can function without a world-class holding midfielder; whether that is Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona side with Sergio Busquets anchoring the back four, Zinedine Zidane Real Madrid’s with Casemiro at the base of midfield or Manchester City in recent years with Rodri running the show from deep.
Yet, individual award shows seem to undervalue how essential defensive midfielders are to a team’s success.
However, Sergio Aguero has sent a message to Rodri as he was nominated for the Ballon d’Or.
On X, Aguero wrote, as translated from Spanish: “A perfect year, you deserve it. Come on Rodri.”
Pablo Zabaleta also wrote on X about the £220,000-a-week man: “Vital for club and country.”
Rodri looks set to finish in the top three for the Ballon d’Or
Whether Rodri will win the Ballon d’Or remains uncertain but it seems like he is set to be granted a podium finish amongst the top three players at the very least.
With the Spaniard’s influence on both Manchester City and Spain’s successes, he has both individually and collectively had a year that means he will be one of the strongest contenders to win the award.
Whether that means Rodri has done enough to win the award will be revealed next month but considering there seems to be a clamour around him winning the Ballon d’Or as well, such a sentiment could be shared by several of the voters.
Ultimately, for players, it must be an honour to be recognised as the three best players in the world.
Even if Rodri does not win the Ballon d’Or, he should be proud if he comes as close as finishing in the top three.
If the four-time Premier League winner makes the cut in the top three, he will also be named alongside two other outstanding players like himself who also had terrific campaigns.
