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7 months ago
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Lionel Messi has named a group of players that he thinks will be in the running to win the Ballon d'Or over the next few years... and there was no room in the list for Jude Bellingham.
Messi is the biggest winner in the history of football's most prestigious individual award, having claimed it for an eighth time in October.
The Argentine finished above Man City's Erling Haaland and PSG's Kylian Mbappe, two players who he believes have a good chance of going a step further.
However, Bellingham, who is in the midst of a stunning debut campaign for Messi's old rivals Real Madrid, did not receive a mention.
As per L'Equipe, Messi said: 'The players to compete for the Ballon d'Or in the coming years? There may be a very beautiful rivalry in the coming years with players like Haaland, Mbappe, Vinicius and many young players competing for the Ballon d'Or.
Lionel Messi has named the players that he thinks will compete for the Ballon d'Or
Jude Bellingham did not receive a mention from the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner
'I also think that Lamine Yamal, who is still very young and now plays for Barcelona, will play a prominent role and fight for it in the future too.
'Certainly there will be others competing for it, new players that we do not know will appear, because there are always new players, and I think it will be a very beautiful era to enjoy.'
Bellingham has so far contributed 20 goals and nine assists in 31 appearances for Los Blancos, who sit top of LaLiga and have progressed to the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
The bookies currently make the Englishman the frontrunner to claim the Ballon d'Or at the end of the year.
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