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While France Football has decided that they will be honouring some of the greatest players in the history of the game by announcing a Ballon d'Or Dream Team instead of awarding the Ballon d'Or to an individual this time in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, we still expect the FIFA Best Player Awards to go ahead.
Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge had earlier told Kicker (via GivemeSport),
"According to a statement by the President of Fifa, this award should take place.
"Gianni Infantino told me that the award should be given to the best player, the best goalkeeper and the best coach. That is very welcome."
It's going to be an interesting showdown as we fully expect the Cristiano Ronaldo-Lionel Messi duopoly to be broken this time. Without further ado, let's take a look at the FIFA Men's Best Player Award Power Rankings for the month of October.
#10 Bruno Fernandes
Bruno Fernandes has been sniffing around the top 10 for a long time now and it's only fair that he breaks into it this time around. The Portuguese has continued to be sensational for both club and country and was recently given the captain's armband by Solskjaer for Manchester United's game against Paris Saint-Germain.
Bruno repaid the trust placed in him by converting a penalty and by also being the most hardworking player on the pitch. He put in yet another stellar performance against Newcastle United prior to their trip to Paris where he copped a goal and an assist.
Bruno Fernandes was excellent for Portugal in the international break as well. And he had scored a goal in United's embarrassing loss to Tottenham Hotspur in the first week of October.
#9 Harry Kane
Harry Kane has been in unreal form this season. He has been so good for Jose Mourinho's side this term and his numbers are so ridiculously good that if he keeps it up, he might even finish on the podium.
Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min have just got used to playing with each other so well that Spurs threaten to score anytime they break on the counter. Harry Kane has a whopping 10 goals and seven assists from 13 appearances so far this season. In the Premier League alone, he has five goals and seven assists from five matches.
On his day, Harry Kane is unstoppable and that's why he has leapt right back into the top 10.
#8 Kevin De Bruyne
Kevin De Bruyne has not got off to a good start in the new season and also missed out on Manchester City's matches against Arsenal and Porto through injury. He has been pretty off colour since the beginning of the season and his returns have been nowhere close to what's expected of him these days.
The Belgian continues to be all about that industry but his final product has been severely lacking. In five appearances for Manchester City this season, KDB just has a singular goal and an assist.
That's the reason why he has slipped several places and landed on seventh in this month's iteration of the FIFA Best Player Award Power Rankings.
#7 Karim Benzema
Karim Benzema continues to be Zinedine Zidane's trusted henchman. The veteran has shown a lot of loyalty by sticking around when so many high-profile players who were with him from the start have now left the club.
Benzema enjoyed a stellar season last time around, scoring 27 goals from 47 appearances and also registered 10 assists. However, he hasn't exactly started this season on a high and has scored just one goal from three appearances across October.
The fact that he doesn't play international football for France doesn't help his case either.
#6 Kylian Mbappe
Kylian Mbappe remains an absolutely menacing presence for Paris Saint-Germain and has continued to dominate his opponents more often than not. The dud against Manchester United was an anomaly but it was not for a lack of trying.
Mbappe has been excellent for Paris Saint-Germain this term and has scored 10 goals and assisted three from 11 games so far this season. He had a really good month and put on a couple of flawless performances against the likes of Angers and Nimes.
#5 Mohamed Salah
Liverpool might not have got off to the best start in their first title defence of the Premier League era but the Egyptian king has. Mohamed Salah has been consistently delivering the goods from the get-go for Jurgen Klopp and co.
Salah scored a hattrick in Liverpool's season opener against Leeds United and has been quite consistent ever since. Salah has six goals from five Premier League outings so far and looked sharper than ever in front of goal and has scored a couple of beauties already this season.
He scored a brace in Liverpool's embarrassing 7-2 defeat at the hands of Aston Villa and scored in the Merseyside derby as well. The Reds will be hoping that this is yet another spectacular season for Mo Salah as they rely on him quite a lot.
#4 Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo is currently in isolation after contracting the coronavirus. But prior to that, he looked sharp and ready to prove to the world yet again that age is just a number.
Cristiano Ronaldo became the second player in history to score hundred international goals and he did so by putting two absolute beauties in the back of the net against Sweden in a UEFA Nations League encounter.
Ronaldo has three goals and an assist from two appearances in the Serie A this season and his absence could be telling for the Bianconeri. He restored parity twice against Roma and saved Juventus from a disheartening defeat against bitter rivals.
#3 Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi has looked less superhuman this past month but that only highlights how imperious he was in the last season. Leo Messi netted 31 goals and racked up 24 assists for the Catalans in the 2019-20 season across all competitions.
Messi's environment has changed drastically. There is no Luis Suarez for him to play off anymore. He has to settle down with the youngsters around him and it might take a little while for him to strike up an understanding with them.
That being said, Lionel Messi showed absolutely no mercy when Barcelona took on Ferencvaros in their UEFA Champions League campaign opener this past Tuesday. He turned in a faultless performances and bagged a goal and an assist for his efforts.
#2 Thomas Muller
The languid elegance of Thomas Muller has been on show once again and the eccentric German international has been a treat to watch. Muller scored three goals and assisted a further three in the month of October to take his tally for the season to four goals and five assists from 10 games.
Muller was one of Bayern Munich's standout performers last season as the Bavarians won the continental treble.
He continues to pull off the simple and most important things on the football pitch without any fuss and after being pushed to the fringes in the early part of last season, he has re-established himself as one of the most vital cogs in Hans Dieter-Flick's system one of the best footballers in the world.
#1 Robert Lewandowski
The man who must feel most hard-done by the fact that the Ballon d'Or won't be awarded this year. Robert Lewandowski has been a machine churning out goals like it was factory work. After scoring 56 goals from 48 games last term, we have seen no signs of slowing down from the Pole.
He has put in some extraordinary performances in the last month. Lewandowski scored four goals against Hertha Berlin earlier this month. He then went on international duty and scored a brace and garnered an assist in Poland's 3-0 victory over Boznia and Herzegovina.
Then he returned to his club and replicated those numbers against Arminia Bielefeld. Robert Lewandowski has seven goals and three assists from four Bundesliga appearances so far this season and is likely to clock mind-boggling numbers yet again.
