20 Early Contenders For The 2020 Ballon d'Or Have Been Named And Ranked

Manchester City playmaker Kevin De Bruyne has been named as one of the early frontrunners to capture the 2020 Ballon d'Or.

The 28-year-old Belgian midfielder has been in scintillating form this season and has already registered an impressive 20 assists across all competitions.

And Goal has named De Bruyne as the early favourite to capture France Football's coveted prize.

Despite Liverpool's incredible Premier League title challenge, the publication said that De Bruyne could still capture more silverware before the season is over.

And the Belgium international could strengthen his case for the Ballon d'Or when his country heads to the Euros this summer.

The publication explained: "His performance and winning goal at Santiago Bernabeu [in the Champions League] further strengthens his case, and with City well on track for a treble of cup successes and Belgium one of the favourites for Euro 2020, the best midfield player in the world may just be getting started on his path to true greatness in 2020."

Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski and Juventus superstar Cristiano Ronaldo have been named second and third respectively in Goal's rankings.

Lionel Messi, 32, broke his deadlock with fierce rival Ronaldo when he captured the 2019 Ballon d'Or ahead of Virgil van Dijk.

The Barcelona superstar ranked fifth in the 20-man list, but the publication believes that he could secure a seventh Ballon d'Or should Barca win two competitions and Argentina capture the Copa America.

Posted below are Goal's predictions for the top 20 footballers that could win the 2020 Ballon d'Or.

20. Josip Ilicic (Atalanta)

19. Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)

18. Ciro Immobile (Lazio)

17. Casemiro (Real Madrid)

16. Paulo Dybala (Juventus)

15. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)

14. Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)

13. Jordan Henderson (Liverpool)

12. Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United)

11. Timo Werner (RB Leipzig)

10. Serge Gnabry (Bayern Munich)

9. Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain)

8. Sadio Mane (Liverpool)

7. Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain)

6. Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund)

5. Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

4. Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund)

3. Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)

2. Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)

1. Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Football News, Football, France Football, Ballon d'Or

Adnan Riaz

Adnan Riaz is a journalist for SPORTbible. He studied for a B.A. in History at the University of York and followed it up with an M.A. in Multimedia Journalism at MMU. Before he started writing about sports, he spent over four years in the gaming press. He has worked for several publications, including Hardcore Gamer, LADbible and the Manchester Evening News. Follow him on Twitter to find out what he is working on next. Got a story tip for Adnan? Email him: [email protected]

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