Lautaro Throws His Hat in the Ring for the Balloon d’Or

The Cult of Calcio

·16. Oktober 2024

Lautaro Throws His Hat in the Ring for the Balloon d’Or

Lautaro Martinez is in contention for the Balloon d’Or and has important backers like Lionel Scaloni and Lionel Messi. He weighed in on the prestigious award after scoring in a six-nil romp of Bolivia with Argentina. He spoke with Tyc Sports (via Tuttomercatoweb).

“I’ll attend the ceremony with my wife and will have the same enthusiasm as ever. I always say that the collective is above the single players, but I think I had a spectacular year with Inter, winning the Scudetto, and scoring five goals in the Copa America.”

Martinez was quizzed about whether he thought he deserved the Balloon d’Or.

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“I don’t’ want to say that, but I think I belong and I’m happy and hopeful ahead of it. We’ll see what happens.”

The award will be handed out on October 28th. In addition to the Argentine, four more Serie A players made the 30-man shortlist: his teammate Hakan Calhanoglu, Atalanta star Ademola Lookman, who had a hat-trick in the Europa League final, and Artem Dovbyk and Mats Hummels for their contributions to Girona and Borussia Dortmund’s achievements in 2023/2024. The last player from the Italian league to win it was Kaká in 2007 before the Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi era.

Vinicius Junior is considered the clear front-runner, Marca informs (via Goal).

Our Take on Lautaro Martinez and the Balloon D’Or

He’ll finish very high, perhaps in the top five, thanks to his success with Argentina and great numbers with Inter, but they needed to go further in the Champions League for him to have a real chance at winning it.