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#2 Ronald Koeman
Lionel Messi's former coach and current Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman has also backed the Argentine to win the Ballon d'Or this year.
After Argentina's Copa America win in July, the Dutchman was full of praise for Lionel Messi, saying that the 34-year-old is now favorite to win the Ballon d'Or. Speaking to Barcelona's official website, Koeman said:
"He is vitally important. For what he brings to the team, he’s the captain and an example. His goalscoring has been brilliant despite a difficult start. He has shown time and again he is the best in the world.
"I know how much he wanted to win the Copa América and he has done it at last. Messi is the prime candidate for the Ballon d’Or after a great season and, for me, he is the favourite."
Unfortunately for Koeman, he could not have thought back then that he would have to continue without Lionel Messi for the ongoing season.
The Dutchman has so far struggled to guide the club into the post-Messi era. Barcelona are winless in the Champions League and are languishing mid-table in La Liga. As such, rumors are rife about Koeman getting the sack in the coming weeks.
#1 Memphis Depay
Barcelona's new talisman Memphis Depay has also given his support to Lionel Messi to win the Ballon d'Or this year.
Depay arrived at Camp Nou from Ligue 1 side Lyon on a free transfer. The new signing was immediately awestruck after seeing six Ballon d'Or trophies at the club's museum. He was very keen to share the field with Messi at Barcelona.
Although things did not quite materialize as the Dutch forward would have imagined, he did talk about Lionel Messi's chances of winning the Ballon d'Or.
After his unveiling at the club, Depay spoke to Barcelona's official website about Messi's Ballon d'Or chances. He said:
"Yesterday at the tour in the museum I saw all of his Ballon d'Ors, probably (he'll win) another one soon. It will be a dream to play together with him."
It was unfortunate for the Barcelona fans that the club could not see Lionel Messi and Memphis Depay link up together in attack. The two would certainly have formed a deadly partnership up front to prevent the Blaugrana from being in the mess they currently find themselves in.
Depay was recently asked whether he regretted moving to Barcelona after the club's poor start to the season. However the forward was quick to state that he has no regrets about moving to Barcelona.
