Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy has recently spoken out on his omission from the 30-man shortlist for the 2021 Ballon d’Or.
Mendy left off Ballon d’Or shortlist
The Ballon d’Or award would take a break in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but it is once again back this year.
The top 30 nominations for 2021 would be released earlier this month and it is not too surprisingly, a list heavily featuring Premier League stars.
Manchester City would win the 2020/21 Premier league and then made it to the 2021 Champions League final.
This would see Kevin De Bruyne, Ruben Dias, Phil Foden, Raheem Sterling and Riyad Mahrez named amongst the 30.
The eventual winners of the Champions League, Chelsea, would also have five players up for the award in the form of Mason Mount, N’Golo Kante, Jorginho, Cesar Azpilicueta and Romelu Lukaku.
Mendy on Ballon d’Or snub
Somewhat surprisingly, one Chelsea player who did not make it onto the list was Edouard Mendy.
The African has put on some stellar showings this year and would concede just three goals in 12 Champions League outings last season.
Mendy also helped Chelsea secure the 2nd-best defence in the Premier League last term, despite the Blues starting the season in poor fashion under Frank Lampard.
Following the snub, several players, including Kalidou Koulibaly, Sadio Mane and Antonio Rudiger also expressed their bemusement at Mendy not making it onto the shortlist.
And now, Mendy himself has spoken out on the snub, having the following to say:
“I think when people don’t talk about you, it’s a good thing. That means you’re doing your job. I don’t need this recognition. When you play football the most important thing is that the people from your club recognise your impact.
“What can I do? I have to just respect their choice. I have to just win titles with my club and try to win title’s with my national team.”
