On November 29, the Ballon d’Or award for the best player in the world will be handed over again, hopefully to the most deserving of recipients.
Unfortunately, that might not be the case.
There are various issues that always appear to dominate the lead up to the ceremony. For example, it’s believed that tactical voting is often employed.
That skews the result and can mean that a player that should win, doesn’t.
Furthermore, there have never been any clearly defined metrics to measure all of the contenders against.
MORE: Back to basics for Liverpool
For example, does Robert Lewandowski’s incredible goals record make him a worthier recipient than Jorginho, who won titles with club and country?
Does Mo Salah deserve to beat both, or maybe Erling Haaland’s consistent excellence should see him lift the award?
This year, as with many others, there’s only one player that truly deserves the award, and who has shone head and shoulders above his contemporaries.
Lionel Messi dragged Barcelona to Copa del Rey glory and to within a whisker of another league title, whilst also taking Argentina to the Copa America title, being named Player of the Tournament and winning the top scorer award in the process.
Not to mention multiple man of the match awards throughout the year.
The fact that it would be his seventh Ballon d’Or shouldn’t even be part of the discussion, and certainly can’t be a reason not to hand it to him.
No matter how you promote Messi due to his fame and popularity, this is Lewandowski’s Balon D’or and the world football fraternity knows it.