Despite Cole Palmer 's stellar performances for Chelsea last season, the two Confederations Cups, his direct contribution to the FIFA Club World Cup win over Paris Saint-Germain, and his direct nomination for the Ballon d'Or, the Englishman has failed to convince everyone of what he has to offer.

Cole Palmer’s Club World Cup heroics may have shot him up the Ballon d’Or rankings, but he isn’t even bothered. The England midfielder was the star of the show in the US, scoring twice as Chelsea

Gets you thinking, though, doesn’t it. It’s a reminder, if reminder were needed, that Chelsea are an investment opportunity to owners who don’t really actually care about anything beyond the financial success of their ‘portfolio company’.

Rodri won last year’s Ballon d’Or after an exceptional 2024 for Manchester City and Spain, becoming only the third player not named Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo to claim France Football’s prestigious golden ball since 2007.

In just under two months time, the Ballon d'Or award will be handed over to another recipient, with the nominees announced at the beginning of August.

Now that PSG have lost the Club World Cup, the 2024-25 season is officially over and we can pick the Ballon d'Or for the best player. Who really deserves it?

Having addressed the weak striker area with Pedro and Delap, Chelsea still have a couple of boxes to tick this summer at goalkeeper and centre-back, though Robert Sanchez’s inspired display vs PSG and the newfound solid partnership of Levi Colwill and Trevoh Chalobah alleviate these fears for now.

The race for the 2025 Ballon d'Or is over - so which of the game's biggest stars are true contenders, and who are merely pretenders?