Ballon d'Or Power Rankings: February 2021

#7 Bruno Fernandes

Manchester United v Sheffield United - Premier League

Bruno Fernandes continues to run the show for Manchester United. The midfielder has been prolific for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side and creates just as well as he scores. The 26-year-old has scored a whopping 22 goals and provided 13 assists across all competitions so far this season.

He leads the goals + assists charts in the Premier League right now with 15 goals and 10 assists. What is impressive is that he scores all these goals playing in midfield. The Red Devils have, time and again, relied on his creativity and he has had no trouble delivering since joining in the January transfer window in 2020.

▪️ 22 goals▪️ 13 assistsBruno Fernandes keeps putting up numbers this season 👊 pic.twitter.com/8SHChVMrGn

— B/R Football (@brfootball) February 21, 2021

#6 Erling Haaland

FC Schalke 04 v Borussia Dortmund - Bundesliga

At 20-years-old, Erling Haaland is already one of the best strikers on the planet. A goalscoring machine of sorts, Haaland enjoyed a highly prolific month where he was scoring goals for fun.

Haaland has scored a total of 33 goals from 28 games for Borussia Dortmund this season across all competitions. From five matches in February, Haaland scored six goals and racked up two assists as well.

Standing at 194 cms with the build to match, he is a menacing presence in the final third and his finishing is already top-notch. Several European giants are monitoring him and there will be an intense battle in the summer to secure his services.

#5 Romelu Lukaku

FC Internazionale v SS Lazio - Serie A

The bullish Inter Milan striker has been leading Inter Milan's Serie A title charge from the front. Having scored 28 goals from 35 appearances for both club and country this season, Romelu Lukaku has silenced his critics after his failure at Manchester United.

When he's on song, there's very little the defenders can do against Lukaku. He has pace to burn and can keep ahold of the ball thanks to his physicality. Lukaku's reading of the game and his movement has improved and the Nerazzuri have benefitted from it greatly.

Inter Milan are starting to pull away from the chasing pack in the Serie A and in their last two outings against AC Milan and Lazio, Lukaku scored three goals and bagged two assists, delivering the goods on the big occasion when the team needed him to.

#4 Lionel Messi

FC Barcelona v Deportivo Alavés - La Liga Santander

It took a while for Lionel Messi to hit his stride this season. Barcelona struggled in the first half of the 2020-21 campaign and their improvement in form has coincided with that of Lionel Messi's.

Messi is currently the top scorer in the La Liga, having scored 18 goals from 22 appearances so far. Though the Argentine has been in great form of late, Barcelona had a largely forgettable February.

They are almost certain to be knocked out of the UEFA Champions League in the Round of 16 stage after suffering a 4-1 defeat in the first leg at home against Paris Saint-Germain. They also did not make the most of their chance to close the gap with Atletico Madrid who are on top of the La Liga table.

But across seven appearances in February, Lionel Messi has scored seven goals and picked up an assist. Messi winning the Ballon d'Or will also depend on Barcelona winning titles and that seems a bit of a reach at this point in time.