Manchester City receive major Ballon d’Or hope as feeling from Vinicius Jr’s camp and Real Madrid emerges | OneFootball

There is a fresh and growing feeling of hope at Manchester City that the club may see their first-ever Ballon d’Or winner crowned in Paris on Monday evening.

The Premier League champions have a total of four nominations at the annual awards ceremony widely-recognised as being the pinnacle of individual prizes within football across the globe.

Manchester City’s latest historic successes within the game have seen a total of four names nominated from Pep Guardiola’s first-team squad, including Phil Foden, Ruben Dias, and Erling Haaland.

However, the name most-heavily tied to a strong chances of claiming the Ballon d’Or is defensive midfield superstar Rodri, whose individual performances for Manchester City and importance to the squad was heightened over the summer months.

Playing an integral role in Spain’s success at the European Championships in Germany, and claiming the Player of the Tournament prize for his showings on the field, Rodri has been tipped as one of the favourites to win Ballon d’Or.

And new reports in the build-up to Monday evening’s ceremony in Paris have indicated that his chances of claiming the award may have been significantly increased, with the emergence of a feeling from within the camp of one of his main competitors for the award.

According to new information from RMC Sport’s Fabrice Hawkins, Vinicius Jr.’s entourage are now ‘convinced’ that the Brazil international will not be named as the recipient of the 2024 Ballon d’Or award.

It is further explained that in addition to those around the forward, ‘everyone’ at Real Madrid also shares this same feeling ahead of Monday evening’s awards ceremony in the French capital.

Hawkins has further reported that Real Madrid’s directors have been left ‘furious’ by the outcome of the award, and are now ‘certain’ that Vinicius Jr will not win. As such, it is revealed that the club’s delegation will remain in Spain, with a trip to Paris tonight now cancelled.

Rodri has played down his chances of winning the Ballon d’Or during interviews since his nomination was confirmed earlier this year, but has stressed that he would be hugely grateful if he was to emerge successful, despite already being content with the recognition alone.

The 28-year-old said in September, “It’s great to be there with these players. It’s great that people value your performance and talent. For me, it’s already a victory what people say about me, the recognition I have. It’s not something that has pushed me, individual awards.

“Football can be beautiful from many views; from the view of a midfielder, centre-back, goalkeeper, striker. But it’s good people are already getting value of what you do. Let’s see. I hope I can win Ballon d’Or, or a Spanish guy can. It’d be great.”

Manchester City are understood to have arrived in Paris on Monday afternoon ahead of the Ballon d’Or ceremony on Monday evening, with club officials, nominations, and other high-profile figures making the trip to the French capital.