Manchester United legend, Rio Ferdinand has reportedly weighed in on the Ballon d’Or debate and made a prediction regarding who he thinks is going to win football’s most prestigious award.
Liverpool star, Mohamed Salah, who is currently having one of the best individual seasons in the Premier League is an early favourite to scoop the award.
Even though the 32-year-old is a Wembley final away from winning the Carabao Cup and appears to be on course to win his second Premier League title, that might not be sufficient alone. There will undoubtedly be a lot of attention paid to Champions League outcomes.
That might be the deciding factor, Ferdinand believes. He has identified a few players who, should they perform better in Europe, could surpass Salah.
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“Right now at this moment in time, I don’t think there’s anyone else on the podium with him,” Ferdinand admitted to TNT Sports.
“But I think with the way the Champions League works, as you get through the knockout stages and someone starts coming to the fore, they end up there.
“It comes down to moments in big games, really. You can throw Salah in there, you can throw [Ousmane] Dembele in there if PSG go far, [Kylian] Mbappe will be there, [as will] Vinicius [Junior] and [Jude] Bellingham.
“Whoever keeps their status and turns up in the semi-final and final will win it. If they [Liverpool] win the Champions League, I’m sure he’ll play a big part.”
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