Messi’s latest Ballon d’Or will join his other six on display at the Barcelona museum
Lionel Messi will keep his seventh Ballon d’Or award in the Barcelona museum alongside his six others, according to reports at SER.
❗️FC Barcelona will put Leo Messi’s 7th Ballon d’Or in their museum.
[Via: SER🥇] pic.twitter.com/qRhubECDnU
— Ali Sherwani (@Ali_Sherwani_) November 30, 2021
Messi was awarded the prestigious prize last night (Monday 29 November) as it further cemented his claim to be one of – if not, the greatest – footballers of all time.
Who else? Lionel Messi wins his seventh Ballon d’Or. #ballondor pic.twitter.com/iakreZR7at
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) November 29, 2021
The 34-year-old won his first-ever international honour with his native Argentina by winning the Copa America in the summer, whilst also scoring 30 league goals for Barça and helping them win the Copa del Rey before leaving on a free transfer at the end of the season.
Despite his undoubted qualities, there were many that disagreed with the decision to award the Argentine the coveted trophy, with many believing that Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski deserved the trophy – with the Poland international finishing second in the rankings.
Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos was one of those who publicly stated that Messi should not have won the award.
“It’s absolutely not deserved,” he said on his podcast as per the MailOnline.
“There is no doubt that Messi, with Cristiano, has been the player of the last decade, but this year there should’ve been others ahead of him.” Kroos believed that Madrid teammate Karim Benzema should have won the prize instead.
The forward, who now resides at Paris Saint-Germain in France will not display his award at his current club and will instead keep it at Barcelona in the museum at the Nou Camp – signalling the love and admiration he still has for the club.
Messi has previously stated he would like to return to the Catalan giants in some capacity once his contract at PSG expires.
Related links:
- Piers Morgan savages Lionel Messi on Twitter after he wins 7th Ballon d’Or
- Evra bizarrely congratulates Messi for winning Ballon d’Or, despite winner not being announced
- Lionel Messi: I want to return to Barcelona after PSG contract expires
