The Ballon d’Or ceremony is set for this month, and as it approaches, no clear frontrunner has emerged for the prestigious award. However, Paris Saint-Germain manager Luis Enrique shared his thoughts on who he believes deserves the honor during an interview with TNT Sports Brazil.
While this year’s Ballon d’Or lacks a definitive favorite, both Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham stand out as strong candidates, thanks to their contributions that helped Real Madrid clinch the UEFA Champions League and LaLiga titles last season.
Despite their impressive performances, neither player added any further trophies over the summer to bolster their chances. Bellingham did reach the UEFA Euro 2024 final, while Brazil faced an early exit in the knockout stages.
Although Enrique isn’t particularly fond of individual accolades, he expressed a desire tosee the Brazilian star from Real Madrid take home the award.
“Who’s going to win it? Do you guys know? I hope it’s Vinícius Júnior, a Brazilian,” Enrique told the Brazilian media outlet. “He’d deserve it, for sure. But honestly, as a coach, I don’t really care much about these individual awards. I don’t believe in them at all.
“They’re just part of the marketing. Yeah, they recognize a player who’s done well, scored a lot, and won titles, but without the team, a player is nothing. So, congrats to whoever wins, whether it’s Vinícius or someone else, but I’ll always value the team more.
”Lionel Messi, the current Ballon d’Or holder, is backing a different candidate this year. Instead of his former PSG teammate Kylian Mbappé, he has chosen Lautaro Martinez, his compatriot on the Argentine national team and a standout player for Inter Milan.
Fenerbahce coach Jose Mourinho voiced his frustration with local journalists on Sunday after his team fell further behind Super Lig leaders Galatasaray, stating that he is "always" questioned about players who aren’t in the lineup.
Fenerbahce settled for a 2-2 draw against Samsunspor in a match that saw them concede a late equalizer.
In response to a reporter's inquiry about why certain players were not participating, Mourinho, who took over as Fenerbahce's head coach this summer, said after the match, "I'm starting to learn what Turkey is. I'm surprised that you don't ask why goalkeeper Irfan [Can Eğribayat] doesn't play, I'm surprised that you don't ask about [forward] Cenk Tosun; I'm surprised because you always ask about the players that don't play.
"For me, [Dušan] Tadić has been our best player for some matches, not because he scores important goals, but because of the balance he brings to the team, because of the organization he has in his brain, because he doesn't make positional or decision-making mistakes. If you don't want me to play him, and play somebody who isn't playingmuch, okay.
"Serbian forward Tadić started the match and netted his fifth league goal of the season. He has also tallied four assists in eight league games thus far.
"It's difficult for me to give more reasons because I don't want to analyze my players publicly," Mourinho explained. "I have to protect players and not open up too much about the reasons why this one plays and not the other.
"I understand it is your culture ... You are crying every week for me to play [midfielder] Irfan Kahveci [who came on as a substitute on Sunday] ... sometimes players that you think are phenomenal players, they are not. Sometimes they make critical mistakes that impact the team."
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