Kevin De Bruyne Snubs Mbappe in Ballon d’Or Question, Puts Vinicius Junior Ahead

• Kevin De Bruyne was put to task to reveal who will win the Ballon d'Or first in the current young generation
• Lionel Messi is expected to dominate the conversation for the last time this year after leaving Europe
• De Bruyne was asked to choose between Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior

Kevin De Bruyne has weighed in on who among the current crop of young footballers is most likely to win the Ballon d'Or first.

This comes at a time when Manchester City players are expected to dominate the 2023 conversation after a record-setting year that saw them win the treble.

Pep Guardiola's charges beat Arsenal to the Premier League title, their cross-town rivals Manchester United in the FA Cup before defeating Inter Milan to win their maiden Champions League title.

2023 Ballon d'Or vote

Norwegian marksman Erling Haaland contributed 52 goals in 53 games in his first season in England and will be expected to rank highly. Most of his goals came from the beautiful relationship he developed with De Bruyne.

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The 2022 World Cup won by Lionel Messi's Argentina is, however, set to complicate issues for Haaland. Messi starred in the Qatar event alongside his former Paris Saint-Germain teammate, Kylian Mbappe, with the two putting an all-time performance in the December 20 final.

Why Vinicius ahead of Mbappe

De Bruyne picked Haaland to win the Ballon d'Or first after being presented with three choices - his club teammate, Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior and Mbappe. Haaland has a good chance of winning his first this season.

The Belgian then surprisingly put Vinicius ahead of Mbappe but backed it up with an explanation.

"I don’t know what’s going to happen this year with him. I have no idea. You know, I also think it’s harder for him to win it in PSG. There’s rumours he goes to Madrid," he said in an interview with Sky Sports.

The 32-year-old, however, clarified that should Mbappe move to the Spanish giants, then he could possibly move to first on his list.

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De Bruyne picks best EPL midfielder

Sports Brief has also reported that De Bruyne was put to task to reveal who else he thought was the best playmaker in the Premier League and he surprisingly chose Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes.

The Portuguese international has been one of United's most consistent players and was recently awarded with the captaincy by manager Erik ten Hag.

De Bruyne was supposed to pick his favourite from a bunch of three players, which also included Arsenal's Martin Odegaard and Tottenham's new boy James Maddison.