Chelsea legend Eden Hazard picks his 2023 Ballon d'Or winner
Chelsea legend Eden Hazard has backed Lionel Messi to win the Ballon d'Or this year. He believes that the Argentine was the best player in the world last season and deserves the award after picking up the World Cup.
The former Belgian footballer, who announced his retirement earlier this month, stated that it was only logical to give the Ballon d'Or to the player who made the most significant impact at the FIFA World Cup. GFFN quoted him as saying:
"It wouldn't be logical to not give the Ballon d'Or to the best player in history in the year that he won the World Cup."
Hazard has been a big fan of Messi for years and has called the Argentine the best player in football history. He believes that the former Barcelona star is ahead of everyone else and recalled his experience of playing against the current Inter Miami star during an interview with HLN in 2019:
"Two GOATs (Greatest of All Time), you say? No way. There is only one GOAT: Him, Lionel Messi! Those two games against Barcelona were not my best memories of 2018. I was happy to play against Barcelona and Messi, but I didn't deliver what I expected. I was disillusioned. My three sons were there for the home match at Stamford Bridge. The eldest is a big Messi fan - all of us are Messi fans. He wanted to see Messi that day because Messi is a special player."
Reports suggest Lionel Messi will be awarded the Ballon d'Or for the 8th time on Monday, October 30th.
Lionel Messi backed to win the Ballon d'Or by former player
Former Aston Villa striker Gabby Agbonlahor has also backed Lionel Messi to win the Ballon d'Or this year. He believes that the performance at the FIFA World Cup was exceptional and said on talkSPORT:
"You have to give it to Messi though, you have to. Winning the world Cup [in which] he was outstanding. I was at the Mexico game, and I've never felt adrenaline like it. The love he had from the Argentina fans, like a God on the pitch. Even that game though against Mexico, like, you was like tired, and then he picked up his left foot, bang, bottom corner. He is like, it was always in his mind that he was gonna drag this team to win the World Cup. And he has to win the Ballon d'Or."
Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe are also in the running for the award but are likely to miss out, as reports suggest the Inter Miami star has been informed that he has won the award.
Former striker Didier Drogba will behanding out the award this year.