When asked who he thought will be the next to win the Golden Ball, the highest individual honor in football, Lionel Messi gave four answers.

The latest Ballon d’Or winner is the superstar from Inter Miami. He won his eighth championship last year, mostly because of his performance at the 2022 World Cup, where he and Argentina’s M10 team took first place. champion.

Jude Bellingham of Real Madrid is a strong contender for this year’s prize, but Messi did not specifically name the England international in his interview with L’Equipe. The four players that Messi specifically identified below are those who will win the Golden Ball in the upcoming years.

Erling Haaland

The first name mentioned by Messi is the one who finished runner-up last year. The Norwegian striker was extremely prolific in his first season at Manchester City, which ended with him winning a historic treble. In most other seasons, that would almost certainly have been enough to get his hands on the Ballon d’Or – but Haaland was beaten by Messi’s World Cup fairy tale.

Haaland is not as strong in front of goal as last year and will almost certainly lose the European Golden Shoe to Harry Kane, even though he is the top scorer in the Premier League.

Kylian Mbappe

Given that Mbappe is the only player Messi plays with who is less than 25 years old, it is only a matter of time until he receives the Golden Ball.

If Les Bleus had prevailed in the penalty shootout, Mbappe would have defeated Messi in last year’s World Cup final after scoring a hat-trick against Argentina. It’s official that Florentino Perez will be joining Real Madrid this summer. Perez is well-known for having players that won the Golden Ball while they were under his tutelage.

With PSG, Mbappe is having a memorable season and a chance to win both the Champions League and EURO 2024.

Vinicius Junior

The third name comes to Messi’s mind when asked about the Golden Ball. Real Madrid’s Brazilian superstar seems to improve every year and has now developed into one of Los Blancos’ most important players.

Real Madrid have almost completed the La Liga championship, Vinicius shoulders a huge responsibility for both the club and the Brazilian team when participating in the Champions League and Copa America in the coming months.

Lamine Yamal

It’s worth mentioning that Yamal is only 16 years old and is enjoying a breakthrough season with Barcelona. He has been compared to Messi, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see the La Masia prodigy appear on the Argentine’s radar.

Yamal isn’t as famous as any of the other names on this list, but he’s one of the leading stars of the next generation. It is worth looking forward to seeing if he can fulfill his potential in the coming years.