Manchester United’s $58.6 Million Superstar Receives Flabbergasting Odds to Challenge Lionel Messi for Ballon d’Or Award

With the European soccer season approaching the business end, the fans are already comparing the players for this year’s Balon d’Or. Earlier, France Football gave the award based on the performance in the calendar year. Currently, they give the award based on player performances during the soccer season. Lionel Messi has won it most times, and his FIFA World Cup heroics makes him the favorite for the 2023 award.

However, recent performances from Manchester United star Marcus Rashford are changing his position on the favorites list every passing game. The United forward is in scintillating form since club soccer returned after the World Cup returned. 

Marcus Rashford is outscoring the likes of Lionel Messi since the World Cup 

It looks like new manager Erik Ten Haag has revived the form of Rashford this season. England forward has 24 goals so far this season. Seventeen of those goals have come after the World Cup break. He has scored those 16 in his last 17 appearances in all competitions.

Rashford is currently outscoring top players like Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, and Erling Haaland, among others. He is the top scorer in Europes’s top five leagues since the World Cup. He is propelling United with his spectacular performances. The club is strengthening its position in the top four thanks to his goal-scoring exploits.

His resurgence after the World Cup, where he scored three goals in 137 minutes, is improving his chances in the Balon d’Or race with every passing game. Lionel Messi currently is the favorite to win the award for the 8th time in his career. His World Cup performances to give Argentina its third World Cup have been the sole reason.

On the other hand, Rashford and United fans will hope the form continues to give United an outside chance in the Premier League title race. United will next take on FC Barcelona in the second leg of the UEFA Europa League in the round of 32 game. The game is perfectly poised at 2-2.

Manchester United hopes to extend Rashford’s contract

His contract ends at the end of the next season as United triggered the one-year extension. Owing to his recent red-hot form, the club, and the manager want to sort out the contract situation of the player soon. 

The player was linked to the French giants PSG past summer. It would be an enormous blow for United if the player leaves. Meanwhile, the United manager has given an update on contract talks with the player before the recent game. He revealed the contract extension talks are progressing. 

All the parties involved will hope for a quick solution to resolve the contract situation. In the meantime, it will be interesting to see where Rashford ends in goals scored at the end of the season. What do you think of Rashford’s chances of finishing in the top three of the Balon d’Or?