La Liga president surprisingly names Real Madrid star as contender for Ballon d’Or | OneFootball

Speaking at the the annual congress hosted by the Instituto Superior de Derecho y Economia (ISDE) in Madrid on Friday, La Liga president Javier Tebas surprisingly named Real Madrid megastar Vinicius Jr. as a possible contender for the 2025 Ballon d’Or.

Vinicius came ever so close to winning the Golden Orb last year only to finish second behind Manchester City’s Rodri.

During the 2024/25 campaign, though, the Real Madrid and Brazil winger was far from his best for club and country, with injuries and lack of consistency affecting him.

The 24-year-old attacker has 21 goals and ten assists from over 50 games this season and can add to that tally at the FIFA Club World Cup.

Despite that, Vinicius and Real Madrid have not won any major honours this season with their only success coming in the form of the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Intercontinental Cup.

Vini a Ballon d’Or contender again says Tebas. (Photo by Aitor Alcalde/Getty Images)

As such, Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal, who won the domestic treble and is in the finals of the UEFA Nations League with Spain, is seen as a strong contender for the Ballon d’Or. But Tebas reckons the winner should be one between the youngster and Vinicius.

“It should be between Lamine Yamal or Vinicius,” said Tebas, as quoted by MARCA.

When asked why he believes Vinicius should be in the running, the La Liga president elaborated:

“He hasn’t had a great season but we mustn’t forget that he was very good at the beginning. To be Ballon d’Or is the sum total of a season and he still has a few more international games and the Club World Cup to go.”

“Those two players are playing in Spain,” he added.

Despite Tebas’ claims, it is extremely unlikely at this point that Vinicius is in contention for the Ballon d’Or this year, given that Real Madrid have not won any major titles.