5 players who can beat Messi and Ronaldo to the Ballon d'Or
It's been habitual now to complete the above sentence with Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi. Of course, how can't it be? Since 2008, this award has only been won by one of these two men.
Arguably two of the best footballers that the game has ever witnessed, Ronaldo and Messi have established a duopoly that has lasted for a decade.
Their dominance is such that every other player might just dream of the third place as the first two were always booked by the Portuguese and the Argentine, shuffling the places between them. With 5 Ballons d'Or each, they have set a record which probably won't be beaten anytime in the future.
But there's an end to everything, isn't it? So even this two-horse race for the Ballon d'Or would come to an end.
There has been something different about the 2017-18 season, many other stars are putting up great individual performances and these players will want to have a say in where the most coveted individual accolade in world football ends up in 2018.
Some older names had threatened to challenge before; Wesley Sneijder, Manuel Neuer, Franck Ribery, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Arjen Robben, Thomas Muller, and many more are among those who have come close but have faded a bit as the consistency of Ronaldo and Messi is something that none could replicate.
On that note, let us take a look at 5 such talents who could be good enough to dethrone Ronaldo and Messi:
#5 Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain, France)
Mbappé is currently one of the most talented youngsters. Arsenal's coach Arsene Wenger once stated that Mbappe has similarities to former French star Thierry Henry.
The 19-year-old has already got everybody astonished with his performances on and off the ball.
He was instrumental in helping his former club, AS Monaco win the Ligue 1 title, surpassing Paris Saint-Germain by a fair margin in the previous season.
For the very same reason, PSG pushed the envelope to get the starlet into their side on loan to strengthen their attack. At present, Mbappé is running riot alongside Edinson Cavani and Neymar and the trio is quickly becoming one of Europe's deadliest attacking combinations.
The prodigy is an integral part of manager Unai Emery's plans for obvious reasons. This season, in Ligue one, the French star has 9 goals and 8 assists already under his name, to add to his 4 goals in 6 appearances in the UEFA Champions League.
Kylian Mbappé has risen to fame within a very short period and given his age, he still has ample of time to establish himself. If he can consistently carry forward his current form just like his idol, Cristiano Ronaldo, did, maybe he too can grab the Golden Ball down the line.