Micah Richards, Thierry Henry, and Jamie Carragher, all of whom are pundits for CBS Sports, are in partial agreement regarding the individual who should be the next recipient of the Ballon d’Or.
On Tuesday evening, the three former Premier League players joined presenter Kate Abdo in the CBS studio for the very first Champions League knockout play-offs. This was the very first time that the competition had ever been held.
Real Madrid’s team secured a dramatic 3-2 victory over Manchester City by virtue of a late goal scored by Jude Bellingham. This gave Real Madrid a one-goal advantage going into the second leg of their match against Manchester City, which will take place the following week.
Ousmane Dembele continued his outstanding performance for Paris Saint-Germain as they defeated Brest, a team from the same Ligue 1 league, by a score of 3-0. Meanwhile, Juventus and Borussia Dortmund both won their matches against PSV and Sporting, respectively.
Abdo, Richards, Henry, and Carragher discussed a variety of topics after the final whistle blew. Among the topics they discussed was Dembele’s “evolution” in front of the net, as well as City’s pre-match Ballon d’Or tifo for Vinicius Junior.
They also made a prediction regarding the next recipient of the Ballon d’Or, which is related to the subject of the award.
Mohamed Salah was the player that Carragher suggested should be awarded the prestigious prize that was most recently won by Rodri, a midfielder for Manchester City. Carragher spent his entire 17-year career with Liverpool, the club that he played for at the time of his childhood.
Additionally, Thierry Henry concurred with the statement. In addition, the Frenchman stated, “I’m with Jamie.” “Yeah, if he continues to behave in that manner.”
Micah Richards came to the conclusion that Salah would be the winner of the Ballon d’Or in 2025, despite the fact that he was not as confident as his fellow pundits. Adding, “He (Vinicius Junior) is my mate,” he stated further. But Salah is most likely involved as well.
Richards responded, “Yeah, Vini or Salah,” after Henry stated that it “all depends on what they will win” at the end of the season. Henry followed up with his statement.
In December, Carragher provided an explanation as to why Mohamed Salah, who has scored 26 goals for Liverpool across all competitions this season, is the “number one” contender for the next Ballon d’Or.
When I think about the Ballon d’Or, I always think about it being centred around an international tournament or the Champions League. “I don’t believe that Egypt has ever won the Africa Cup of Nations with Salah, and obviously in a World Cup as well,” Carragher said. “It is always difficult for Egypt.”
Salah is able to benefit from the fact that there is no tournament during the summer. While [Kylian] Mbappe hasn’t started at Real Madrid as well as he would have liked, and [Erling] Haaland is not at his best, I believe that the combination of these factors will be the best opportunity [Salah] has ever had to win the Ballon d’Or. If Liverpool were to win the league and get into the Champions League final, or win it, I believe that Salah would have the best chance of ever winning the award.
Carragher continued by saying, “He is most likely the number one right now.” It is my opinion that he will be awarded the Ballon d’Or if he is able to continue his success from the first half of the season into the second half of the season.
