Ballon d'Or 2019: Looking at the early leading candidates
The next Ballon d'Or winner won't be named until December of this year, however, we are already getting a good idea of the players that will be contending for the award. During the first two months of 2019, a number of global stars have already started to make an early claim for the award, and Luka Modric's reign will likely come to an end.
Modric is the current holder of football's most prestigious individual accolade having brought an end to the Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo duopoly of the last decade, although the Croatian has failed to replicate his 2018 form throughout the early part of the year. Due to this, the Ballon d'Or is likely to change hands once again, and here are three individuals that are making strong cases to replace Modric as footballs best player.
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#3 Kylian Mbappé - Paris Saint-Germain
There is no doubting that Kylian Mbappe will one day take home footballs biggest award, and the young Frenchman is already among the leading contenders for the 2019 award. In the first few months of 2019, Mbappe has passed 50 career Ligue 1 goals, and due to the absence of Neymar, he has also become PSG's main man.
The 20-year-old is currently topping the Ligue 1 scoring charts, averaging a goal every 72 minutes, and Mbappe also netted a crucial goal during PSG's Last 16 Champions League game against Manchester United. If Mbappe continues to score at his current rate, he should get past 100 career goals by the end of the year, and there is no doubting that the mercurial Frenchman will be a leading contender for the Ballon' d'Or trophy.