A France star who played against Lionel Messi in the 2022 FIFA World Cup final has now insisted the Argentine will not win the 2023 Ballon d'Or award.
This year's highly anticipated Golden Ball ceremony will take place on 30 October in Paris.
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With the 30-man shortlist having been announced 6 September, Messi and Manchester City's Erling Haaland are considered by many to be the frontrunners for the prize given their stellar displays in the 2022/23 campaign.
In December 2022, the Argentine helped his country to their first FIFA World Cup title since 1986, and many have since argued that the 36-year-old has "completed" football after finally winning the elusive title.
Haaland, meanwhile, won a continental treble in his debut season at the Etihad, namely the 2022/23 UEFA Champions League, the Premier League, and the FA Cup titles.
The Norwegian also netted 52 goals in 53 games in the process, smashing several records along the way, including setting a new one for the most goals in a Premier League season with 36.
Some have suggested that Kylian Mbappe deserves an outside shout given that he registered 41 goals in 43 games, plus another eight strikes at the World Cup in Qatar, earning him the tournament’s Golden Boot prize.
His Les Bleus teammate and Juventus star Adrien Rabiot has now insisted that Messi will not claim a record-extending eighth Ballon d’Or trophy this year, believing that either Mbappe or Haaland will win it.
"I hear a lot of people saying Messi will win it. But on a sporting level, it will be between Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland," he told RMC Sport.
"Saying which one of those two will be difficult, depends what it's based on.
“No one ever agrees, but it will be between those two.
"I exclude everyone else."
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