Ballon d'Or 2024: Rodri 'Has Already Won' the Award Despite Vinicius Jr Being Favored

Rodri feels as though he's already won the Ballon d'Or due to the immense support and positivity he's received from the public.

The Manchester City midfielder is a leading contender for the award, having played a key role in City's fourth consecutive Premier League title and Spain's triumph at Euro 2024.

Remarkably, Rodri has not lost a match in 90 minutes since Spain's defeat to Scotland in Euro 2024 qualifying back in March 2023. His impressive performance has garnered backing from football legends like Alan Shearer and Gary Lineker. However, Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior remains the bookies' favorite, thanks to his 24 goals and 11 assists in 39 games during the 2023/24 season, which saw Real Madrid win both La Liga and the Champions League.

Rodri acknowledged Vinicius as a formidable competitor: "People say I'm competing with Vinicius, whom I greatly admire as a player. Just being in the conversation makes me very proud of my work. It will come down to what voters value and believe, as there are many deserving players. We’ll see what the final decision is.

"But imagine for me, to be in the conversation that the people when I walk into the street, they say to me, ‘you’re going to win the Ballon d'Or, you deserve it’. And for me, that means I am already a winner with this. The people that believe that I can be the best player in the world and telling me these kind of things, for me is incredible. I never dream about this.

"But once you are in this situation, this position, because a lot of years of work, a lot of trust on yourself and the help of all the people, you think about this award and being there is just unbelievable."

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Rodri faces a challenging historical context in his quest for the Ballon d'Or. The last male Spanish player to win the award was Luis Suarez in 1960. Since then, Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez both fell short, losing out to their Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi in 2010. Additionally, a defensive midfielder hasn't won the award since Germany's Lothar Matthaus in 1990.

Rodri acknowledges the historical hurdles: “What fans love about football are goals and assists. Because of this, awards often go to strikers, wingers, and attacking midfielders,” he told BBC’s Football Focus.

“But people who play that position really think we can value the importance of that role. If this guy makes this team the champion, or win the Treble or whatever, maybe he’s the key part of all of this and maybe he deserves it.

“I’m not talking about me, I’m talking about lots of players in the past. We all know that in football we play for winning collectively – to win [individual] trophies is a consequence of your work, but it is not our aim. It’s something you love, because they recognise your work.”

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