5 Players who could beat Lionel Messi to the Ballon d'Or award this year

#4. Sadio Mane

The Senegalese played an influential role for Liverpool

After living under the shadow of fellow African superstar Mohamed Salah at Anfield during the previous campaign, Senegalese attacker Sadio Mane has finally hit the spotlight this season by standing up at the decisive moments to provide inspiration for his team.

Mane was one of the standout performers in the Premier League campaign, with his return of 22 goals and 2 assists in 36 appearances earning him the Premier Golden Shoe recently. On a combined note, the attacker has wrapped 26 goals and 5 assists across all competitions this term - a prolific output from the ex-Southampton attacker.

Having fired Liverpool into the final of the Champions League once again, Mane will be hoping to lead The Reds to claim European glory at Wanda Metropolitano. If he wins the trophy and performs extraordinarily well in the AFCON 2019 coming up this year, he would definitely have a good chance of claiming the Ballon d'Or award.

About the author

Jidonu is a European and international football news writer at Sportskeeda. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and has around 7 years of previous experience working with the likes of Tribuna and SportRaba, Jidonu has a good eye for detail and has the ability to created cohesive articles, and reporting exploits have also led him to exclusively cover the 2018 FIFA World Cup in the past.

Jidonu’s tryst with football started after watching the 2002 FIFA World Cup final between Brazil and Germany, being mesmerized by Ronaldo and Ronaldinho. Barcelona philosophy and approach towards the game under Pep Guardiola further fueled the burgeoning love for the sport, and he has been a Culer ever since.

Unsurprisingly, Lionel Messi is his favorite player and is the one true GOAT for him over Cristiano Ronaldo. The 2022 FIFA World Cup final, where Messi's brace led to La Albiceleste lifting the cup left a lasting impact on him. His love for Messi also sees him follow Major League Soccer apart from Europe’s top five leagues.

In his free time, Jidonu raps and produces music, and also enjoys reading and swimming.

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Edited by Rahul Arun