Manchester City should have already won the Ballon d’Or with one first-team star, insists Spain defender Daniel Vivian

Athletic Bilbao and Spain international centre-back Daniel Vivian has insisted that Manchester City should have already had a recipient of the Ballon d’Or.

That debate and conversation surrounds Rodri, who is on the verge of making yet more history after a stellar few seasons both for club and country on the silverware front, with a European Championships final now on the horizon.

Spain will face off against England on Sunday night at Olympiastadion in Berlin, with Rodri eyeing a second international title with his country following their UEFA Nations League success last year, and his fourth trophy of the 2023/24 season.

Successes in the UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup, the Premier League, and potentially at Euro 2024 has led many fans to believe that Rodri should be strongly in contention to claim the next edition of the Ballon d’Or.

But according to one of his international teammates, this should not be the first time that Rodri could be winning the trophy, and the 28-year-old should have already claimed a recent edition of the globally-acclaimed individual honour.

Speaking in an interview with Portuguese newspaper A Bola this week, Spain’s Daniel Vivian has insisted that had it have been for a stronger ‘marketing campaign’, Rodri would be widely benefitting from his status as ‘the best player in the world’.

The 25-year-old defender explained, “For my part, I think Rodri is without a doubt the best player in the world, but he doesn’t benefit from the marketing campaign that other players have behind them.”

In fact, such has been the height of Rodri’s achievements in recent seasons that Vivian believes he should have already won the renowned Ballon d’Or award ahead of Lionel Messi following his exploits in European competition for Manchester City.

He continued, “He should have already won the Ballon d’Or when he won the Champions League , scoring the winning goal (for Manchester City) in the final.”

Give Rodri’s staggering achievements in English football since first arriving at Manchester City in the summer of 2019, the Spaniard is yet to receive a single Premier League Player of the Month or Player of the Season award.

In fact, the top-flight have only issued the midfielder one individual honour during his five seasons in England to date, as he claimed the Premier League’s Goal of the Month prize in November 2021 for a long-range strike against Everton at the Etihad Stadium.