It is said that Mbappe may become the European Footballer of the Year in 2024, and this prediction is really not groundless. First of all, Mbappe is actually not young, he was born in 1998 and is 26 years old this year. 26 years old is already a very mature age, and it is also the node to start reaping team honors and individual honors. In '02, didn't Da Luo win the World Cup at the age of 26? Of course, there was the second European Ballon d'Or at the end of the year. Of course, Mbappe has already won the Hercules Cup before he is 20 years old, but the Ballon d'Or has not yet arrived.
Secondly, from the perspective of the Ballon d'Or, the Mero era is really over, after all, both have left European football. If you have to say that Messi can win the Copa America this year and be crowned European Footballer of the Year again, then I have nothing to say. In fact, it's time for the Golden Globe Awards to open up a new era, and Messi will always be in charge, which will make people inside and outside the industry see jokes. And Mbappe is the most competitive player after the Mero era. If he doesn't win the Ballon d'Or, I can't imagine who else can be in front.
Speaking of which, one has to connect with a fact. It is known that Mbappe will join Real Madrid next season. With the identity of Real Madrid, it is obviously much easier for Mbappe to win the European Ballon d'Or. Starting from Cristiano Ronaldo, to Modric and Benzema, these are all European Footballers produced by Real Madrid. At the same time, only Barcelona was on an equal footing with Real Madrid with Messi's product. Of course, if Mbappe can lead Paris to win the Champions League, or lead France to win the European Cup, he is basically guaranteed to win. But joining Real Madrid is undoubtedly a layer of insurance.
In fact, from this level of analysis, we can interpret Mbappe's joining Real Madrid from another perspective - this is the last chance for a whole generation of post-90s players to hit the European Ballon d'Or.
The European Golden Globe Awards began in the 50s and has a history of about 60 years. The first winner, Matthews, was born in 1915 and is considered a post-10 generation. Since then, every generation of players has given birth to European Footballer of the Year. For example, Stefano and Yashin, who were born in the 20s. Kopa after 30, Eusebio after 40, Rummenigge after 50, Stoichkov after 60, Zidane after 70, Ronaldo Messi after 80......
Okay, stop here. As of today, from the post-10s generation to the post-80s, every generation of players has won the Golden Ball. But after the 90s, it is still vacant.
In fact, in the past ten years, it should clearly belong to the time for post-90s players to shine. But Melo's light is too dazzling, and the Magic Flute, Benzema, and Lewandowski, the post-80s, are so competitive. Therefore, many equally outstanding post-90s players cannot stand in the C position of the stage. Among them, the most prominent is Mbappe.
Mbappe has long been identified as the first person since Melo in recent years. However, due to the limited team honors and the fact that the individual results have not reached the extreme, Mbappe has not been able to win the Ballon d'Or. In fact, now that I think about it, isn't what he lacks a super big platform? Obviously, Grand Paris is not, Real Madrid is. As long as you are at Real Madrid, even if you perform the same as in Paris, the bonus you get is very big.
In fact, even if Paris can't win the Champions League this season, France can't win the European Cup, but as long as Mbappe goes to Real Madrid, he won't have to worry about not winning the European Golden Ball Award in the next few years. Fortunately, Mbappe was born in 1998, and among the post-90s, he is young, close to the post-00s, relatively speaking, there is still a lot of time to prove himself. And De Bruyne and Neymar, the old people born in the 90s, basically have no chance. Therefore, if a whole generation of post-90s people comes up with a Golden Ball, all hope is on Mbappe.
I hope that Mbappe can realize this wish at Real Madrid and fill the vacancy of the Ballon d'Or for the post-90s generation.