"He has everything to win the Ballon d'Or" - Marquinhos backs Barcelona 'phenomenon' to win award this year

Brazil defender Marquinhos has backed Barcelona forward Raphinha to win the Ballon d'Or this year. The Paris Saint-Germain centre-back stated he is happy that everyone is seeing the potential of the former Leeds United star.

Speaking to the media ahead of Brazil's clash with Argentina in the World Cup qualifiers, Marquinhos claimed that Raphinha has an incredible mentality and is a leader on the pitch. He hopes that the Barcelona star can maintain the same level until the end of the season and win the Ballon d'Or this year. He said (via Barca Blaugranes):

“Raphinha is a phenomenon. Now everyone sees his potential and everything he can do, something that we already saw internally in the national team. We already saw how important he is, his effort, his mentality and his leadership. He is very intelligent and always offers the right words. He conveyed that when he fouled Vini and showed himself to be a leader and a possible captain."

"He did that because he thought of the group first. These are things that weren’t seen on the outside, but people were already seeing them on the inside. If he continues at the same level from now until the end of the season, he has everything to win the Ballon d'Or.”

Raphinha and Mohamed Salah are touted as the front-runners for the award this year. The Brazilian winger has scored 27 goals and provided 20 assists in 42 appearances for La Blaugrana this season.

Vinicius Jr was also in the mix with Kylian Mbappe, but the Real Madrid duo have fallen behind.

Thierry Henry backs Barcelona star for Ballon d'Or

Thierry Henry was on CBS Sports earlier this month after Liverpool were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League by PSG. The Arsenal legend claimed that Raphinha had taken the lead in the Ballon d'Or race.

Henry said:

“Raphinha is ahead for me now, he is ahead because of what he is doing in the Champions League. He has 11 goals in the Champions League. Raphinha is on a lot of goals and with only one penalty. I am not saying that Kane and Salah should not be having penalties, Mo Salah is having a season in the Premier League that we will never see again. Raphinha, when people talk about being complete as a striker you need to know about putting on pressure also and defend, and help your full back. And he has it all.”

Harry Kane is another name being mentioned in the conversations and the England striker has confirmed that he is eyeing the Ballon d'Or.