“His performances at Euro 2024 have been outstanding” - Joselu insists 32-year-old star should be contender for 2024 Ballon d'Or
Joselu believes his Spain teammate Dani Carvajal deserves to be in the running for the 2024 Ballon d'Or award. With Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Junior widely considered favorites to win the honor, the right-back's name comes as a surprise.
However, Carvajal enjoyed a successful 2023-24 season with Real Madrid before helping Spain reach the semi-finals of Euro 2024. He has made four appearances in the ongoing continental competition, netting a goal.
With Real Madrid, the 32-year-old won the UEFA Champions League, with him scoring in the final, the La Liga, and the Supercopa de Espana last season. Speaking about Carvajal, who will miss Spain's semi-final clash against France due to suspension, Joselu said (via The Athletic):
"We all know how good Dani has been. For me, he should be a Ballon d'Or contender. His performances at Euro 2024 have been outstanding, but we also have a deep enough squad to make sure any replacement can fill the bill perfectly."
"People say Mbappe has not been playing great (his only goal in the tournament was a penalty), but then he can come up in a game and change everything. We have to be aware of that," he added.
Joselu and Carvajal have shared the pitch 105 times for club and country combined, bagging seven joint goal contributions. With the right-back set to miss the semi-finals, the experienced Jesus Navas will likely replace him.
Journalist predicts Mbappe's chances of winning 2024 Ballon d'Or
Reputed journalist Robin Bairner believes Kylian Mbappe is not a favorite to win the 2024 Ballon d'Or award. However, he claims that the 25-year-old has a chance if France win the Euros and Mbappe has a stellar end to the tournament.
Although Les Bleus have made it to the semi-finals, Mbappe has had an underwhelming tournament, bagging just one penalty goal and an assist.
Bairner told PSG Talk:
"I think he probably wasn't a major Ballon d'Or contender purely because of PSG's performance in the Champions League. I think if he was going to win it, he would have had to have a stellar Euros I think. You were probably talking about six or seven goals."
Mbappe scored an incredible 44 goals and assisted 10 in 48 matches across competitions for Paris Saint-Germain last season. Although he helped PSG win the Ligue 1, they were knocked out by Borussia Dortmund in the semi-finals of the Champions League.