Manchester City are very much at the forefront of world football. Men’s award
Ruben Dias
Ranked the third best defender in the world last year after coming behind Kim Min-jae and Josko Gvardiol in the Ballon d’Or ranking, Dias remains the rock at the very centre of our defence.
To win trophies, you have to be strong defensively. It’s one of the oldest truths in the game.
Dias is Guardiola’s chief lieutenant on the pitch when it comes to putting it all on the line.
The Portuguese international prepares impeccably and takes the utmost care of himself. He truly lives to keep the ball out of his net.
Since joining City in September 2020, he has never not won the Premier League.
Another 45 appearances came last season as we lifted the league title as well as the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.
Phil Foden
The Premier League Player of the Year, FWA Footballer of the Year, PFA Players’ Player of the Year and City Player of the Year enjoyed the best season of his still developing career in 2023/24.
Still just 24, he has already won 17 major honours, played 275 times and scored 87 goals in a City shirt.
But last season saw him make the crucial difference time and time again and, as Pep Guardiola said after his hat-trick against Aston Villa in April, that’s what wins awards
He played 53 games – more than any other season in his career – and many of them in a central role, scoring a phenomenal 27 goals and laying on 12 assists.
As one of our own, Foden is already a City legend but continued form like that will see him enter the pantheon of the game’s greatest players throughout history.
Erling Haaland
Our Norwegian was second last year – only losing out to Lionel Messi, who largely collected his record eighth award for his central role in Argentina’s World Cup success.
Not perturbed by narrowly missing out on the greatest individual prize in football, Haaland continued to set the standard for goalscorers all over the world over the last 12 months.With his great provider Kevin De Bruyne out for more than half the season and himself injured for a couple of months, Haaland still cruised to his second Premier League Golden Boot and equalled the second-best tally in a singular season for goals in City’s history – with only his 2022/23 haul bettering it.
He now has 100 City goals, needing just 105 appearances to reach the landmark. That equalled Cristiano Ronaldo’s previous top five European league record, needing 105 games to score 100 Real Madrid goals.
Individual awards tend to favour attacking players and there’s little doubt that few, if any, scare defenders and change games like Haaland does so frequently.
Rodrigo
Our Spaniard has been the beating heart of Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering side for almost all of his five years in Manchester now.
While he will miss the rest of the 2024/25 season and Guardiola will do his best to cover for Rodrigo’s absence, there’s no doubt he’d rather have his No.16 available.
He is the complete player, dictating tempo and helping us build attacks from back to front while athletically providing cover and never finding himself out of position.
That is before you mention the crucial finishes at the very end of so many tight games.
Having finished fifth last year, Rodrigo’s game reached another level altogether in 2023/24 and no one doubts he would be a truly deserving winner this time around.
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