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Barcelona defender Pau Cubarsi has tipped his compatriot Rodri to win this year's Ballon d'Or while also naming the Real Madrid duo of Dani Carvajal and Vinicius Junior among the contenders.
With the four active former winners - Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Luka Modric and Karim Benzema - missing this year's 30-man shortlist, a new winner is guaranteed to be crowned in Paris on October 28.
Real Madrid attacker Vinicius is widely regarded as one of the favourites after his 24-goal 11-assist campaign in 2023-24 helped Los Blancos to three trophies, including their second La Liga-UEFA Champions League double in three years.
However, Rodri has also emerged as a contender after another solid season with Manchester City - winning an unprecedented fourth-straight Premier League and reaching the Champions League quarter-finals and FA Cup final. He also won Euro 2024 with Spain, scoring once in six games.
The 17-year-old Cubarsi said (as per Barca Universal) about who he thinks will win the 2024 Ballon d'Or:
“The Ballon d’Or is between Rodri, Carvajal and Vinicius; I would like Rodri to win it."
While Cubarsi didn't feature in Spain's Euro 2024-winning squad, he won the Olympic men's football gold at the Paris Summer Olympics a few weeks later.
How Real Madrid's Ballon d'Or contenders have fared this season
Six current Real Madrid players are in the 30-man shortlist for this year's Ballon d'Or. Two of them - as aforementioned - are Dani Carvajal and Vinicius. The four others are Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe, Antonio Rudiger and Federico Valverde.
Carvajal has a goal and an assist in 11 games across competitions this season. Vinicius has four goals and seven assists in 11 games across competitions, while Bellingham has two assists in eight outings across competitions.
New signing Kylian Mbappe has seven goals and an assist in 11 games across competitions. Rudiger has scored once in 12 matches across competitions, playing every game this season. Meanwhile, Valverde has also played all 12 games across competitions for Carlo Ancelotti's side this campaign, contributing three goals and two assists.
It's pertinent to note that the now retired Toni Kroos is also in the shortlist, but he ended his club career with Los Blancos at the end of the 2023-24 season, with his last match being the 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League final. He also reached the Euro 2024 quater-finals with Germany, losing 2-1 to eventual winners Spain.
