Journalist provides insights on his “better than Christmas” period after Ballon d’Or nomination release amid growing speculation of Lionel Messi’s triumph

The Ballon d’Or is surely the highest individual honor a footballer can achieve. Though the G.O.A.Ts Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo make winning look easy, it is not a child’s play to be crowned the champion. Only a few out of many get the chance to be honored with this title.

The Ballon d’Or winners are announced based on the votes of journalists. One such journalist is Henry Winter. The Englishman has just revealed how he decides his vote and how he feels about doing this work.

Journalist offers insights into thought process behind Ballon d’Or voting

A video uploaded to the Ballon d’Or official Instagram account features English journalist Henry Winter, who is responsible for the English vote on the Ballon d’Or. In the video, he talks about how lucky he is to have this job and how seriously he takes it. The journalist then moves forward to tell us how he spent two whole days trying to study all the nominees and how they performed.

Though all of this may sound like a lot of work to some people, Henry Winter told the viewers that for him, those two days are the best part of the year. He even went so far as to call them better than Christmas. “When the Ballon d’Or nominations come out, I almost retire and spend 48 hours looking at the clips, going through stats, and looking at my notes of games. It’s my favorite two days of the year, even better than Christmas!” he said.

Messi hot favourite to bag 8th Ballon d’Or

There are many speculations about who is going to get their hands on the 2023 Ballon d’Or trophy. While some of the fans are siding with the one and only Lionel Messi, there are others who think that youngster Erling Haaland deserves it more. Lionel Messi’s World Cup performance got him the respect of Brazilian legend Ronaldo Nazario.

The Inter Miami star’s gameplay turned out to be extremely beneficial for his country; he not only led his team to victory but also won the FIFA Golden Ball award. On the other hand, Elring Haaland’s performance for his new club, Manchester City, was certainly remarkable. The striker led his team to their first-ever UEFA Champions League victory and also acquired the trophy under Pep Guardiola’s guidance.

Both players have a chance to be crowned champions this year, but sports journalist Fabrizio Romano thinks that Lionel Messi will be winning his 8th Ballon d’Or this time. He posted a photo on his Twitter account with the caption, “Understand, all the indications are set to be confirmed, but Messi will be the final winner once again.”

Though Fabrizio Romano has announced Messi as the winner, there are still many out there who think Haaland is a better option, so we will have to wait and watch the results on Monday.