There are 30 names on the Ballon d’Or’s shortlist, including Englishmen Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and Cole Palmer.
His closest challenger appears to be defensive midfielder Rodri who helped Manchester City win the Premier League title and Spain lift the European Championship last campaign.
But, according to the UK bookies, Vinicius Jr is the odds-on favourite.
He scored 26 goals and made 12 assists in 51 appearances for club and country last season, and would become just the third person not named Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo to win the Ballon d’Or since 2007.
The others are team-mate Luka Modric in 2018 and Karim Benzema in 2022. Not bad company that.
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