Former Real Madrid and Brazilian defender, Marcelo has picked this year’s Ballon d’Or winner.
DAILY POST reports that the nominations for this year’s individual award were announced last week.
Real Madrid players featured prominently in the 30-player shortlist after a stellar 2023-24 season.
Real Madrid won the UEFA Champions League, pipped Barcelona to the La Liga title and also won the Supercopa de Espana earlier this year.
Los Blancos also won the UEFA Super Cup trophy at the start of this campaign.
Seven players connected to Real Madrid featured in the shortlist announced by France Football.
Real Madrid have the likes of Vinicius Jr., Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe, Dani Carvajal, Federico Valverde, and Antonio Rudiger in the list.
Retired midfielder, Toni Kroos,, also finds himself on the shortlist.
Marcelo predicted Vinicius to emerge victorious in the ceremony on October 28.
He was quoted as saying by MadridXtra, “Ballon d’Or? I think they will definitely give it to Vinícius Jr. Carvajal, Bellingham, Kroos played very well too,” as seen in sportskeeda.com.
Vinicius Jr. is a frontrunner for the award but will face tough competition from Manchester City’s Rodri.
