Kylian Mbappe Gives Brutal Take Into Rodri Winning the Ballon D’or Over Vinicius Jr
Kylian Mbappe has given his honest take on Rodri winning the Ballon d'Or over Vinicius Jr in 2024, with the ceremony last year being a controversial affair.
Real Madrid ace Vinicius Jr was one of the favorites to win the award after guiding his club to the UEFA Champions League and La Liga titles in 2023-24. The Brazilian had an exceptional season, scoring 25 goals and providing 11 assists in 40 appearances across competitions.
Rodri, meanwhile, won the Premier League with Manchester City and the UEFA Euro 2024 with Spain. His achievements outweighed Vinicius' and the Spaniard won the award.
Kylian Mbappe has now shared his honest verdict on the matter. He doesn't think Rodri is Ballon d'Or caliber. Speaking Le Parisien, the 2018 FIFA World Cup winner said:
What is a Ballon d'Or player? Rodri, do you consider a player to be a Ballon d'Or? I thought the Ballon d'Or would go to Vinicius, but in the end it went to Rodri. If I had told you three months earlier, you would have said, "What the hell are you talking about?
- Kylian Mbappe
Mbappe further added:
Today we don't know who the Ballon d'Or is going to go to, except that no one should be excluded, that all players can be awarded, maybe even a goalkeeper.
- Kylian Mbappe
Vinicius Jr, though, ended up winning the FIFA The Best Award in 2024.
Kylian Mbappe, on the other hand, is yet to win the Ballon d'Or despite achieving so much in his young career. The Frenchman is one of the front-runners for this year's award after a productive first season with Real Madrid. Mbappe has so far scored 30 goals and provided four assists in 43 appearances since his free summer transfer.
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Apratim is an experienced sports journalist having covered European and World Football, Combat Sports, Olympic Sports, and more for online media publications like Sportskeeda, EssentiallySports, and more. He is currently an MSc. in Sport Marketing student at Loughborough University, London.