The battle between Rodri and Vinicius Jr for the Ballon d’Or seems like one for the ages.
It has emerged on Monday that Vinicius’ camp feel Rodri will win the Ballon d’Or, with Real Madrid believed to be “furious” as they expected their talismanic winger to be handed the prestigious accolade.
As a result, the Brazilian’s presence at the Ballon d’Or ceremony is not expected alongside other Los Blancos representatives such as Florentino Perez, Carlo Ancelotti and Jude Bellingham — as reported by Fabrizio Romano.
Rodri, on the other hand was spotted in Paris as he could well expect to make history.
Real Madrid fans are fuming Rodri could win the Ballon d’Or instead of their in-form forward.
The Manchester City maestro could be set to usurp Erling Haaland, who was City’s highest-ranked representative in the club’s history last year after placing second behind Lionel Messi last year.
- READ MORE: Who is Rodri? Get to know Man City’s modest midfield maestro who won a Champions League final
Toni Kroos says ‘Rodri will win the Ballon d’Or’
Recently, Thierry Henry opted for Rodri over Vinicius as his personal pick for the Ballon d’Or.
Alan Shearer’s choice for the Ballon d’Or was Rodri over Vinicius as well.
Now, Toni Kroos has revealed during The Icon League’s Twitch stream that Rodri is set to win the Ballon d’Or.
“Rodri will win the Ballon d’Or.”
“I’ve never seen the importance of these individual awards in football, they have no place.”
Rodri’s Spain side notably beat the retired midfielder’s Germany team 2-1 after extra-time in the quarter-final of Euro 2024.
Gary Lineker feared Rodri could miss out on the Ballon d’Or solely due to Manchester City’s failure to win the Champions League earlier this year.
However, Rico Lewis backed Rodri as the deserving Ballon d’Or winner amongst other City players.
Kroos hailed “top player” Rodri during Euro 2024
Ahead of Germany’s dramatic defeat to Spain at the European Championship, Kroos was full of praise for Rodri.
The Real Madrid legend said via Stadium Astro: “Rodri is one of the most decisive players for both Manchester City and Spain. He reflects a lot of calmness on his respective teams. He’s not prone to errors even under pressure, he gives a lot to his teams.”
“On top of that, over the last one or two years, he’s started scoring important goals, like City in the Champions League final, for example. He’s a top player, he’s definitely destined to play Pep’s [Guardiola] football in Manchester.”
Kroos clearly seems to hold Rodri in high esteem as a fellow midfielder himself.
Perhaps the veteran’s opinion on the Ballon d’Or stems from his dislike for individual awards.
But considering Kroos realises how key Rodri is for both Manchester City and Spain, he perhaps understands why the former Atletico Madrid anchor looks set to win the award.
Naturally, the former Bayern Munich orchestrator would be disappointed if Vinicius is not handed the accolade.
