Within the past decade, it would be safe to claim that these incredible 10 footballing years belonged to none other than Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
The two maestros did indeed lit up the last decade with countless goals between them, however, the natural truth is that we might not find them doing the same throughout the best part of the upcoming decade.
The new generation of players will soon be on the rise and will fight for the top individual honours like the Ballon d’Or.
With that in mind, here are the three players who are most likely to win this prestigious individual honour in the next decade…
3. Sadio Mane
Sadio ManeFor some, he should have won the Ballon d’Or this year itself. However, he fell short as Lionel Messi claimed the award, yet again. Even then, however, Mane’s name has been pitched up regularly with the probable Ballon d’Or winners of the future.
Indeed, Lionel Messi himself revealed that he voted for the Senegalese to win the award. Moreover, with all due respect to his incredible footballing capabilities, since Ballon d’Or has a lot to do with the commercial aspect of the game, having Mane’s name therein also increases his chance of winning the honour.
On top of that, he is only getting better as a player and with the way Liverpool have been playing this season, it won’t be shocking if they actually end up completing the treble by the end of the season with Mane leading the way and winning the Ballon d’Or to kickstart the new decade.
2. Neymar
Behind all the controversy and injury problems, there is still a world-class player in Neymar. The Brazilian might not have seen things go according to plan after his move to Paris Saint-German, but he has been among the goals whenever he has played.
The Brazilian has eight goals from league 10 matches so far this season and also has four assists to top it off.
While his chances of winning the Ballon d’Or do not look high now, if he can manage to lead PSG to Champions League glory and Brazil to a Copa America win, then there is a good chance for him to lift the award.
The former Santos star is still only 27 and has time on his side to win the Ballon d’Or somewhere down the line in his career.
1. Kylian Mbappe
If there is one player who looks destined to dominate the next decade, it is Kylian Mbappe. At this point, he looks like the only one who is set to sweep majority of the Ballon d’Or accolades in the next decade.
Unless someone pops up as Cristiano Ronaldo did as a nemesis for Messi, Mbappe may well go on to win multiple Ballon d’Or gongs in the future. He has 11 goals from 12 league matches and also has four assists to his name already this season.
Despite the presence of Neymar, he is the star player at PSG and if he makes the expected move to Real Madrid in the future, then his chances of winning the Ballon d’Or will increase exponentially. The three players who are set to succeed Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo!
