The 2019 Ballon d’Or will be presented in December, and the three front runners will all be confident of their chances at lifting the famous award. For both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, it could just be one of their final chances. They're each aiming for a sixth win. Meanwhile, for Virgil van Dijk it would be tremendous recognition of a fine season spent leading Liverpool to European glory and an incredible run in the Premier League.
However, there might be some outsiders worth noting. Even if they don’t go on to receive the prestigious individual award, they might slip into the final conversation and make some jumps in the final voting.
Raheem Sterling | Manchester City
Sterling had an absolutely immense season last year, scoring 17 league goals and assisting another 10. This season, he's off to a remarkable start, bettered only by his teammate Sergio Aguero, who has scored six goals to Sterling’s five. The Englishman won a domestic treble with City (quadruple if you care to count the Community Shield) and led England to a third-place finish in the UEFA Nations League.
He has finally captained England and continues to help mentor the younger lads for both club and country while he refines and improves his own game in every area of the pitch.
Bernardo Silva | Manchester City
Stats will tell you this is a joke, but his improvement last year was both incredible and incredibly important for City. If you look at his heatmap from the match that swayed the title talk against Liverpool back in January, you’ll see that his legs just don’t seem to get tired — he’s like the damn Energizer bunny.
Along with his four domestic trophies, he won one more with Portugal, winning the UEFA Nations League against the Netherlands. Seven goals and seven assists doesn’t exactly scream Ballon d’Or, but his influence in the team is only growing. With the coming departure of David Silva, Bernardo will become one of the most important pieces of the City puzzle.
Sergio Agüero | Manchester City
Apologies for the City overload, but I think Agüero needs mentioning. He was one goal shy of making it a four-way tie for the EPL Golden Boot, finishing the season with 21 league goals while adding another six in the Champions League. Along with all of this, he tied Alan Shearer’s record for most hat tricks in the Premier League at 11. He carried a heavy load of the attacking duties throughout the season in place of Gabriel Jesus.
With six goals from six shots on target this year, he looks set for another season where he somehow improves his level of play under Pep Guardiola and possibly even improves his goal haul.
Eden Hazard | Chelsea/Real Madrid
Hazard was one of the only Chelsea players that had a season worth remembering. The Blues finished third in the league, but considering the squad they had that was about as good as they could get, and he, along with a collapse of hysterical proportions from Spurs, is the only reason they finished where they did.
He also inspired Chelsea to a resounding Europa League final win over Arsenal where he scored twice and assisted one more in a 4-1 win. I think letting Chelsea’s shambles overshadow how critical and impressive of a season Hazard had would be a mistake.
Kylian Mbappe | PSG
33 goals and seven assists in 29 Ligue 1 games, wow. This generation’s golden boy does not slow down as he has been incredibly enjoyable to watch since his explosion in the 2016-17 season with Monaco. He lifted the World Cup last year with France and was much more than just a bench player, scoring in the World Cup final. His fame alone might just help him make the leap into the top three. If not this year, it's surely on the horizon for the French phenom.
Sadio Mané | Liverpool
Being part of a front three that includes Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino, it’s tough to get the recognition — and the goal numbers — that he may deserve. He scored 22 times last season but most notably picked up his level of play in the winter months when Salah and Firmino were struggling to find their sparkling form of the season prior.
He was just shy of leading Senegal to a Africa Cup of Nations triumph in Egypt over the summer, but he lifted the Champions League trophy last May and looks to be on the right path this season with two goals already.
Frenkie de Jong | Ajax/Barcelona
If the players above are a longshot, this is a Hail Mary. Frenkie was just voted UEFA Midfielder of the Year in a Champions League campaign that saw the young Dutchman lead his team to the semifinals, only bowing out to a last minute goal from Lucas Moura.
He was wonderful this past season, dictating his team’s play and helping to thwart any opposition attack with cunning positioning and anticipation as the holding midfielder. The fact he has started all three LaLiga games for Barcelona in a very talented pool of players hints that he is beyond the hype and is the real deal.
View this post on InstagramProud to receive this award and to share the stage with all these big players
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