Manchester City star Rodri has answered the most important question currently being asked in world football: who deserves the 2025 Ballon d’Or?
The Spanish star is the last player to win the Ballon d’Or for his overall performances with the Spanish national team and Manchester City in 2024, but he is out of the running for 2025 after spending the entirety of last year injured.
While with the Spanish national team, and before their 2026 World Cup qualifier against Turkey, Rodri was asked about who should win the Ballon d’Or, and he chose two names he considered the best of the past year.
Rodri said, “I hope Pedri or Lamine Yamal wins the Ballon d’Or, but in terms of sporting merit, I think Vitinha or Ousmane Dembélé are the two who should win the award.”
He added, “Paris Saint-Germain was the best team in the world last season, so it’s difficult for a player from there not to win the award.”
Rodri won the 2024 Ballon d’Or ahead of Vinicius Junior in one of the biggest football upsets of all time. This opened the door for midfielders to be honored after the award had been almost exclusively won by strikers, except in rare cases.
Rodri returned from injury about two weeks ago and played in Spain’s 3-0 win over Bulgaria in La Roja’s opening World Cup qualifying campaign.
