Toni Kroos makes one final request to his ex-Real Madrid teammates in the Ballon d’Or race | OneFootball

Six players in the current Real Madrid squad are nominated for the 2024 Ballon d’Or award. Ironically, however, not all the six nominees from last season’s Champions League winning team are still at the club.

While Vinicius Jr, Dani Carvajal, Jude Bellingham, Federico Valverde and Antonio Rudiger are all members of last season’s squad and the team this year, Toni Kroos and Kylian Mbappe do not fit the same case.

While the German retired after winning the laurels last season, Mbappe joined Real Madrid in the summer after a good season at PSG.

Kroos’ jovial request

Having officially retired after the Euro 2024 that was held in Germany, Kroos is on the Ballon d’Or nominee list for the final time in his career.

In light of the same, he made a jovial request on his social media to his former teammates asking them to help him win the award this year as they still have plenty of opportunities ahead of them to do the same.

In a way, his social media post is a final favour that he asks of Real Madrid, albeit light-heartedly.

The favourite to win

As it stands, Real Madrid superstar Vinicius Jr is the overwhelming favourite to bring the Ballon d’Or back to the Santiago Bernabeu. Jude Bellingham, meanwhile, is also expected to have a podium finish.

As revealed earlier today, Los Blancos were seriously hoping for a clean sweep of the podium but are unlikely to enjoy that stature this year given Rodri’s stronghold on the third place.

Barcelona and AC Milan, to this day, remain the only teams to have secured all three podium places in the Ballon d’Or race. Real Madrid must wait, but fans will be convinced that it will not be long.