Thomas Frank believes Phil Foden is England’s likeliest candidate to win the Ballon d’Or in the future.
Interestingly, in November two years, Michael Owen also tipped the 23-year-old as a potential contender for the prestigious award.
So far, no player at Manchester City has won the Ballon d’Or, with Eden Hazard claiming that Erling Haaland deserved to win the accolade in 2023 as he finished in second place behind Lionel Messi.
Thomas Frank says Phil Foden could win the Ballon d’Or in the future
In 2022, Kevin De Bruyne finished in third place, which was the closest a City player had got to winning the award before the Norwegian striker’s arrival last summer.
However, the Stockport-born attacker, whom Thierry Henry lauded for shouldering his boyhood club’s burden this season has a decade of football, if not more left in his legs to contend for such individual trophies.
As Brentford prepare to face Manchester City on Tuesday, Thomas Frank tipped Phil Foden as a potential Ballon d’Or winner, especially as far as English players go.
“Phil Foden is a very good player. For me, he’s the closest, I think England get to a potential Ballon d’Or winner in the future. I think he’s got that potential or that level”, he said [via BeanymanSports2].
“I think he can influence the game in so many ways. Last game, he got on the end of three situations, scored three goals. He’s very good dribbling, he’s very good.”
“He works very hard. He seems to have a good mentality. I don’t know him personally but looks from the outside to have a very good mentality in terms of working hard. So, he’s very good.”
Phil Foden may have a better chance than Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane
Thomas Frank makes a fair point about Phil Foden potentially winning a Ballon d’Or one day.
Especially when it comes to current English players when looking at the clubs they play for.
Many may argue Jude Bellingham’s case but at the same time, Real Madrid are currently not a better team than Manchester City.
Winning the Champions League plays a major role in which player wins the Ballon d’Or and City could scoop up another such trophy, if not more in the years to come.
Similarly, while Harry Kane is an elite player, Bayern Munich are in a crisis, sitting eight points adrift of Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga while being out of the DFB-Pokal and 1-0 down to Lazio after the first leg of the Champions League last-16.
Phil Foden, on the other hand, is leading a stable Manchester City and according to Rio Ferdinand, he is the conversation for becoming a “world-class” player on TNT Sports.
As a result, Frank’s claim should not cause much of a debate.
