FC Barcelona continues to be the club with the most Ballon d’Or wins in history alongside Real Madrid. The two El Clasico rivals continue to have a stronghold in the competition and it is largely thanks to their huge catalogue of world beaters and legends. However, just two men have done most of the heavy lifting for both Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Those two aliens of the game were none other than Barça’s Lionel Messi and Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo. Both the Argentinian and Portuguese superstars are regarded as the two players with the most amount of Ballon D’ors to their name.
Messi comes in at first place with eight awards, while Ronaldo himself is no slouch with five awards to his name as well. However, the latter has always been seen as a very driven player but also as someone who tends to overlook others in his quest for self-satisfaction and his competitiveness.
Yet, it was a breath of fresh air to see that the Al-Nassr forward has decided to give flowers to the new generation that is rising up in the modern game. As he revealed on his Youtube channel, while sitting down with former Manchester United teammate Rio Ferdinand, Ronaldo revealed the names of four players who he think can win the Ballon d’Or moving forward and one of them was a Barcelona wonderkid:
“(Kylian) Mbappe can be the next Golden Ball (Ballon d’Or) for the next years. Probably (Erling) Haaland, (Jude) Bellingham, Lamine (Yamal). I think this new generation has a lot of potential.”
The other three names that were highlighted by the former Real Madrid icon were more than expected. All three players have already showcased their talents over a handful of years previously but the inclusion of Lamine Yamal from Barcelona shows a rather special acknowledgement of his qualities from a massive great of the game.
While his idol remains another former left-winger who competed with the likes of Messi and Ronaldo, this acknowledgement from the Portuguese legend would be nothing short of a great confidence booster for the 17-year-old La Masia talent. Interestingly, he has already even become the youngest ever Ballon d’Or nominee in history, overtaking Kylian Mbappe’s previous record.
Yamal may not be winning the award this year, given that there are some heavy favorites among the nominees, but the youngster has a great chance to do so in the future. He is still only 17 years old and has an entire career in front of him in which he will only get better and better if he can avoid certain misfortunes that often strike talented youngsters.
