Chelsea and Spain international Marc Cucurella has weighed in on the debate surrounding the Ballon d’Or result as Manchester City’s Rodri emerged victorious.
The 28-year-old became the first traditional defensive midfielder to win the leading individual prize in football in Paris since Lothar Matthaus’ success in 1990, defeating competition from the likes of Vincius Jr and Dani Carvajal of Real Madrid in particular.
Rodri’s success in France led to huge anger spilling out from the Real Madrid camp, as the Spanish giants opted to boycott the entire ceremony, despite winning a number of other accolades on the night, including Carlo Ancelotti being named Coach of the Year.
With that being said, many within the game feel as though Rodri’s success was hugely deserved, after the Manchester City midfielder played an integral role in victories across both the Premier League and European Championships with Spain.
Speaking to Onda Cero’s Radioestadio Noche programme this week, Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella admitted that his votes for the 2024 Ballon d’Or prize would have seen Rodri claim the award as happened on the evening in Paris.
“My Ballon d’Or votes would have been: Rodri, [Dani] Carvajal, and Vinicius,” Cucurella admitted. “People don’t know what he has until he’s not there and you start training with Rodri and he controls everything.”
Offering further explanation on his selection and pointing towards Pep Guardiola’s side, Cucurella said, “Now Manchester City don’t have him and they keep losing.”
Manchester City find themselves in a hugely challenging run of form across competitions at present, losing all of their last four contests in the Carabao Cup, UEFA Champions League, and Premier League.
Much of Manchester City’s difficulties have been credited to injury problems, however others within the game feel Rodri’s impact on the side by being ruled out for an extended period through injury is causing wider problems.
Manager Pep Guardiola remains in the process of sourcing a solution to the issue, deploying the likes of Ilkay Gundogan and Mateo Kovacic in the deep-lying midfield role to varying degrees of success.
The Premier League champions return to action after the international break with a contest against Tottenham in the English top-flight, welcoming Ange Postecoglou’s side to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday 23 November.
