Former Manchester United midfielder, Luke Chadwick, has identified two players as possible nominees for this year’s Ballon d’ Or award.
According to Chadwick, the two likely candidates for the 2021 Ballon d’ Or are Chelsea’s Jorginho and Barcelona’s Lionel Messi.
Jorginho won the Champions League with Chelsea this year and also the Euro 2020 with Italy, while Messi led Argentina to win the 2021 Copa America.
DAILY POST reports that the Ballon d’ Or was not handed out in 2020 due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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“Jorginho has had an incredible season, winning the Champions League and the Euros. He obviously missed the penalty that could have won it for them, which would have been the icing on the cake for him,” Chadwick told CaughtOffside.
“I think he has had a brilliant season in terms of the way he plays the game. Players like that are appreciated more by people who know the game really well, players like Scholes and Carrick, the experts watching them always see what they bring to the team and how important they are.
“Scholes at United was probably seen as the most important and valuable player. You hear the likes of Xavi and Iniesta talking about him as one of the best ever, and maybe some fans don’t quite see that, because they look for the players who score all the goals or set up all the goals. When players like that come to the end of their career they are maybe appreciated a bit more than during their career.
“Deep-lying midfielders are now really important in the game and we are seeing kids coming through who recognise that role they play in their teams.
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“Jorginho has got to be in with a shout of winning the Ballon d’Or. He probably has not had a lot of performances where he was man of the match, putting in a 9/10 performance week in, week out, but it’s his consistency and his elegant play in the mould of a [Paul] Scholes or a [Micheal] Carrick that means he would be a deserved winner.
“Lionel Messi will surely be in with a shout again after his performances at the Copa America, but it is nice to see that the award is not just being dominated by Ronaldo and Messi every year, it is good to see other players get a sniff.”
