Official – Inter Milan Midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu Finishes 20th In Ballon D’Or Voting | OneFootball

Inter Milan and Turkey midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu has finished 20th in the voting for the Ballon D’Or in 2024.

The Nerazzurri midfielder may not have come close to winning the award. However, his placement in the thirty-player shortlist reflects his immense growth.

Calahnoglu was one of two Inter players who made the thirty-player shortlist for the Ballon D’Or this year.

That is a reflection of the 30-year-old’s vital importance to Inter’s Serie A title win last season.

Calhanoglu joined the Nerazzurri in the summer of 2021. He made the switch from city rivals AC Milan on a free transfer.

While there were clear signs of Calhanoglu’s quality in his first season at the club, the best was certainly yet to come.

The former Bayer Leverkusen and Hamburg midfielder underwent a positional change in the 2022-23 season.

Initially, that was just an emergency solution. Marcel Brozovic was out for an extended period during the campaign, and so Inter coach Simone Inzaghi turned to Calhanoglu in the holding midfield role.

But the Turk proved to be the perfect player for the base of Inter’s midfield.

Inter Milan Midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu Places 20th In Ballon D’Or Voting

During the 2022-23 season, Calhanoglu was a key player for Inter as they reached that season’s Champions League final.

But the Turk’s growth only continued last season.

Calhanoglu was one of the pillars of Inter’s starting eleven in Serie A throughout the campaign.

The 30-year-old thrived playing in the deeper role. He set the tempo for the team and kickstarted innumerable dangerous attacks.

Moreover, Calhanoglu was not only invaluable to Inter in possession.

Despite having started out his career playing in attacking midfield and on the wing, Calhanoglu’s defensive positioning and tackling have improved greatly since he’s been at Inter.

This has made the 30-year-old a crucial player in balancing Inter’s midfield trio.

Meanwhile, Calhanoglu is also the captain of the Turkey national team. He inherited the armband from Burak Yilmaz in 2022 following the former captain’s international retirement.

Turkey made it to the quarterfinals of the Euros this summer with Calhanoglu wearing the armband.

All of this has led to Calhanoglu making the Ballon D’Or shortlist for the years. And he has finished 20th in the final voting from that shortlist.