🏆 Ballon d'OneFootball: A maturing starlet in 5th place | OneFootball

Welcome to the 2024 Ballon d'OneFootball.

We have been counting down our top 10 men's footballers in the world right now, before revealing the winner on 27 July 2024.

You can read here how we voted for this year's award.

And here is our list so far.

Today, we have...

5th: Phil Foden, Manchester City and England

Goals in 2023/24: 27

Assists in 2023/24: 12

Trophies won in 2023/24: UEFA Super Cup, Club World Cup, Premier League title

Highest ranking among voters: Video 📹 (4th)

Why were they nominated?

Phil Foden turned the ripe old age of 24 in 2024. He had already won five Premier League titles, the Champions League and a host of other trophies prior to last season, but 2023/24 was the year a boy truly became a man.

With Kevin De Bruyne out injured, Foden stepped up as Manchester City's talisman. Deployed more centrally than he had been in previous seasons, the Stockport-born playmaker caused all kinds of havoc, scoring incredible goals, important goals, and incredibly important goals.

He finished the season with a career-best 27 strikes in all competitions as City won the Premier League title for an unprecedented fourth consecutive time, landing himself the Premier League and Football Writers' Player of the Year awards for his trouble.

Best moment since the start of 2023/24?

Cutting in onto his left foot and unleashing a venomous strike into the top corner became Foden's trademark last season, and he saved the very best until last.

City went into the final day of the season knowing that a win over West Ham would secure the title, and with less than two minutes on the clock, Foden had received a pass on the half turn and nestled the ball into the top corner in the blink of an eye.

You only have to look at his face to see how much it meant to the boyhood Blue, and he added a second goal for good measure later in the game to lead City towards another triumph.