Real Madrid star MUST sign for Slot's Liverpool to get Ballon d'Or recognition

It seems Liverpool's swashbuckling stars of 2023/24 are not the only high-performing players on the receiving end of a head-scratching Ballon d'Or snub.

Shortlists for awards can often be controversial affairs, with worthy candidates - such as Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker this time around - missing out on a well-earned nomination for reasons ranging from football politics to pure ignorance.

Teams who are flavour of the month with a governing body can fill the list, while others who deserve to be there can dip under the radar of the judging committee.

Read more: Liverpool players who've won the Ballon d'Or

Whatever factors went into drawing up the 30-strong roll call for 2024's Ballon d'Or, Liverpool were left with no representatives for the first time in eight years.

Not even Salah, who himself has been a perennial presence on the list since 2017, made the cut after a campaign in which Jurgen Klopp signed off with a thrilling Premier League title chase and the eighth and final trophy of his Anfield reign, the Carabao Cup.

LIVERPOOL TARGET RODRYGO SLAMS SHORTLIST

The Egyptian talisman is in good company, however, with fellow attacking talent Rodrygo loudly bemoaning his absence from the list of nominees.

“I was upset, I had a good season and I deserved to be there,” claimed the Real Madrid superstar, who has been linked with Liverpool.

“Without taking anything away from the players who are there, I think I had a place in the top 30. I expected [to be in it].

“It was a surprise [to miss out] but there's not much I can do, I'm not the one who decides these things. I just have to play, work every day, that's what I'm going to continue to do.”

The Brazil international, who could be up for a move to Anfield if reports of a rift with England ace Jude Bellingham prove to be true, went on to say:

“I made a post mocking me a bit, and my Real Madrid team-mates commented without understanding.

“Now there's not much to say, everyone knows about my indignation, which is everyone's.”

Never mind this year's aberration, Rodrygo. Refreshingly free of egotists, Arne Slot's Liverpool could be just the team you need to join, if you're to prove your Ballon d'Or critics wrong in 2025.