Sadio Mane has been tipped by one pundit to win the Ballon d’OR ahead of Liverpool teammate Mohamed Salah and Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema.
The latter is currently favourite with bookmakers to win the prestigious award , having scored his 41st goal of the season for Real Madrid in their Champions League semi-final clash with Manchester City on Tuesday night. While Salah has been a standout performer for Jurgen Klopp’s quadruple-chasing side.
Mane was previously in contention for the 2019 Ballon d’OR , finishing 4th, with Salah and Virgil van Dijk also in the running after Liverpool lifted the Champions League. However, ex-Premier League striker Gabby Agbonlahor believes the Senegalese striker could have an even stronger claim this time around, given his success on the international stage.
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“We will probably look at Benzema and Lewandowski, but I’m looking at Sadio Mane,” Agbonlahor told talkSPORT . “He’s won the Africa Cup of Nations, got a chance of winning the Premier League, has won the Carabao Cup and could win the FA Cup and Champions League and he’s scored a lot of goals this season.
“I know we’re looking at Benzema, but if they [Real Madrid] get knocked out by Man City then I think Mane would be the favourite to get it. I look at the way the Ballon d’Or is given, it includes trophies as well. Sadio Mane winning the Africa Cup of Nations, I’d put him above Mo Salah at the moment.”
With Liverpool still in the hunt for an unprecedented quadruple, Agbonlahor is right to highlight that success at club level could have a major influence in the voting process. Mane has scored 19 goals for the Reds, less than both Salah and Benzema, but has also made a mark on the world stage.
The 30-year-old converted the decisive penalty in the Africa Cup of Nations Final in February to win the trophy for the first time in Senegal’s history. Mane then followed this up a month later by once again scoring the crucial spotkick against Egypt to book his country’s place at the World Cup.
