Ballon d’Or nominations and Newcastle speculation – Friday’s big stories

Robin Bairner

Updated: 12 Oct 2021 09:36 CDT
3 min read

Ronaldo makes his debut for Manchester United — © ProShots

The Ballon d’Or 2021 nominations dominated the headlines on Friday, with France Football unveiling a 30-man shortlist for the award.

The usual suspects lead the way for the prize, with Lionel Messi of Paris Saint-Germain favourite to pick up the gong for a record seventh time. Cristiano Ronaldo is also among the hopefuls, joining Messi and two other players on a quest to do something that just six other men have managed in the history of the award.

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Despite a large 30-man shortlist, there are inevitably those disappointed to miss out. FootballTransfers picked out the 10 most valuable players who did not make the grade.

Meanwhile, there has also been interest in the Kopa Trophy, which goes to the best player aged under 21 in the world. There are 10 finalists for that award, including four from the Bundesliga and two from the Premier League.

Thinking about team football, this is the time of year when managers can start to become twitchy as boards consider their results to date. Mikel Arteta was on the verge of the sack in August but has bounced back well, winning the Premier League Manager of the Month award, but he cannot take his safety for granted yet.

Newcastle boss Steve Bruce was one man who probably did not want the takeover of the club to go ahead. Already successors are lining up to take his job.

And in Spain, Barcelona’s financial crisis goes on. President Joan Laporta admitted that he held out hope that Lionel Messi might play for free right up until the last, while Javier Tebas has played down the economic problems of the Catalan club, despite debts of over €1.3 billion.