Steve McManaman has told TNT Sports in an exclusive interview that Vinicius Junior is the favourite for the Ballon d'Or award if he can lead Real Madrid to another Champions League triumph.
The Spanish champions are looking to win the European Cup for a record-extending 15th time in the club's history when they face Borussia Dortmund at Wembley on Saturday night, live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
Vinicius has been instrumental in their run to the final with five goals and five assists in nine Champions League appearances this season, including an important brace in the first-leg semi-final against Bayern Munich.
The Brazil international also played a key role in helping Madrid clinch the league title this term and McManaman is confident that the forward is the frontrunner for the Ballon d'Or, and could seal it with more impressive displays at this summer's Copa America.
"I think it’ll probably be Vini," McManaman said when asked who is the favourite to win this year's Ballon d'Or.
"They’ve got the Copa America coming up and of course England have got the Euros coming up. It might rest on that and somebody being the star of the tournament. I don’t think there’s been any real standouts this year.
/origin-imgresizer.tntsports.io/2024/05/28/3977196-80719633-2560-1440.jpg "Exclusive: Vinicius Junior is frontwinner for Ballon d'Or award if Real Madrid win Champions League - Steve Mcmanaman - TNT Sports (1)")
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"Kylian [Mbappe] has been okay, Harry Kane is up there and for Real Madrid you can choose a number of people but I think the way people are talking, Vini is probably ahead of most people at the moment."
Another player who is firmly in the running for the award is Vinicius' club team-mate Jude Bellingham. Michael Owen told TNT Sports that the midfielder could win the Ballon d'Or if England go far at Euro 2024 this summer.
It has been a sensational campaign for the 20-year-old during his first year at the Bernabeu. Bellingham has contributed with 23 goals and 12 assists in all competitions, which helped steer Madrid to the league title and Champions League final.
If the England international goes on to win the European Cup, McManaman believes that it could go down as one of the club's best debut seasons and he says that Bellingham won't be fazed by playing against his former club in the final.
"If he follows up winning the league with winning the Champions League, with all scoring all the goals that he has, I think it will be arguably one of the best debut seasons," he added.
"I remember Zizou [Zinedine Zidane] winning the Champions League in his first year and he scored that great goal, but he certainly didn’t win the league so it has to be up there, yes."
McManaman added: "The pressure will be on them because of where Dortmund finished in the Bundesliga and where Real Madrid finished in La Liga where they were incredibly strong in a transitional year.
"They ran away with the league title very comfortably and impressive in the Supercopa de Espana. The pressure will be on but they are the favourites. Jude has played at Wembley many times, he knows the Borussia Dortmund team inside out so it should be a really enjoyable day for him.
"Of course you’ve got nerves but when you play for England at the World Cup or the European Championships or you play for Real Madrid, nerves are secondary really. This is the end of the season and the nerves are probably gone.
"He was probably nervous when he first put on a Real Madrid shirt on but we’re now 50 games into the season and he’ll be absolutely fine and looking forward to it."
'Carlo doesn’t want any credit, he couldn’t care less'
McManaman also praised Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti for the way he has managed to navigate the club to success despite the departures of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema.
The La Liga giants have appeared to combine youth and experience to bring more trophies to the club and McManaman said they can only get better in the near future.
"I think he deserves a lot of credit albeit that Carlo doesn’t want any credit, he couldn’t care less," he explained. "A few years ago, it was Cristiano, Gareth Bale and Benzema. Those three have gone and that’s 100 goals a season gone.
"The fact that Madrid haven’t missed a beat really in between that. This was supposedly a transitional year with Jude as their big signing as everyone is being a bit frugal with the money due to financial fair play.
/origin-imgresizer.tntsports.io/2024/05/09/3964512-80484948-2560-1440.jpg "Exclusive: Vinicius Junior is frontwinner for Ballon d'Or award if Real Madrid win Champions League - Steve Mcmanaman - TNT Sports (2)")
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"Yes they brought in Fran Garcia, Joselu but they were secondary people to cover the likes of [Marco] Asensio leaving and the fact that Ferland Mendy was injured a lot last year. Brahim has come in because Benzema and [Eden] Hazard have gone, these are all secondary people.
"The big signing was Jude Bellingham and the fact that it’s worked out speaks volumes for how Madrid do their business and how Jose Angel Sanchez and Santiago Solari are all going about their business privately and bringing in the right type of players.
"If they do win the Champions League this year and they bring in Endrick who we know is going to come and maybe bring in Kylian who we haven’t been told about yet, how strong are they going to be next year? And then the year after, they focus on another position like centre-half or somewhere else across the field. They’re doing their business incredibly well."
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