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#3 Jorginho (Chelsea/Italy): +800
Jorginho is a strong contender for the 2021 Ballon d'Or award. That's because the Italian joined an exclusive list of players to win the Champions League and the European Championship in the same year.
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Although he doesn't score much from open play, Jorginho is a key player in midfield for club and country. He determines the tempo of games, and is also a proficient penalty-taker. Considering his stellar exploits, the Italian became the first Chelsea player to win the UEFA Men's Player of the Year award.
There is no doubt about Jorginho being a frontrunner for this year's Ballon d'Or award. But it remains to be seen if voters opt for team accolades, personal ones, or a combination of both to decide this year's winner.
Considering his relative lack of goal contributions, Jorginho remains an unlikely winner of the Ballon d'Or, which has been dominated by attackers in recent years.
#2 Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich/Poland): +250
Robert Lewandowski has been ageing like fine wine. The prolific Bayern Munich broke the late Gerd Muller's record for most goals (40) in a Bundesliga campaign to lead Bayern to a ninth consecutive Bundesliga title.
The 33-year-old has already plundered 15 goals across competitions this season as Bayern lead both the Bundesliga and their Champions League group.
Lewandowski has also been on fire for Poland this year, scoring nine competitive goals, three of them at Euro 2020.
He had a stellar year in 2020, playing a key role in Bayern Munich's continental treble-winning campaign. However, the Ballon d'Or award got scrapped last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, possibly denying Lewandowski the prestigious accolade.
So it won't be unsurprising to see the Pole crowned the 2021 Ballon d'Or winner, considering his stellar exploits last year and in 2021.
#1 Lionel Messi (PSG/Argentina): -175
Who else but Lionel Messi? Despite failing to win a league title for the second straight year, the Argentine produced another sizzling individual campaign, winning a record-extending eighth Pichichi award (scoring 30 goals).
And, yes, he has negative odds of winning the 2021 Ballon d'Or award. All the other shortlisted players have positive odds, which means Messi has the best odds to land the prestigious award this year.
Messi then led from the front, bagging four goals and five assists in the Copa America 2021 to end Argentina's near three-decade-long trophy drought. After three final heartbreaks, Messi finally landed his first title with the country, also winning the Player of the Tournament award.
Messi has had a quiet start to life at PSG since arriving at the Ligue 1 giants this summer. He is yet to break his Ligue 1 duck in five games, but has scored thrice in as many Champions League games this season.
Nevertheless, Messi may have already done enough to stave off the competition and win a record-extending seventh Ballon d'Or award.
Barring an unlikely winner like Luka Modric in 2018, Messi could be crowned the 2021 Ballon d'Or winner next month.
