Bayern Munich might stop Harry Kane from winning the Ballon d'Or - yes, really

Lionel Messi's 2023 Ballon d'Or victory felt like a parting gift to an unprecedented era of football.

The diminutive and otherworldly forward was rewarded for his incredible 2022 FIFA World Cup-winning campaign with his record eighth Ballon d'Or. He definitely did not have the best season at club level and, if we're all being honest with ourselves, it probably should have gone to Erling Haaland.

But Messi's victory felt right just in a historical sense. Eight triumphs sounds fair across the course of his career. Having moved to Inter Miami in MLS, he was no longer going to be in these conversations and would no longer win. Here's your last trophy, thanks for the memories, let's shake hands and call it a day.

And so, for the first time since the mid-2000s, the race for the Ballon d'Or will not feature Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo. We are entering a new age of football.

Among the frontrunners in 2024 are PSG's Kylian Mbappe, Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham, Manchester City's Haaland and Bayern Munich's Harry Kane.

A summer 2023 move to Bavaria enabled Kane to be part of this elite-level fanfare. There was nothing realistically achievable at Tottenham Hotspur that would have taken him into Ballon d'Or contention (unless you think he could have led them to the Premier League title under Ange Postecoglou, that is).

So far, Kane has lived up to his end of the deal. He's scored 22 goals in 16 Bundesliga games, 26 in 23 across all competitions. Kane hasn't taken his game up a level, but he is playing for a team with a bigger spotlight on them across the world. More people are sitting up and taking notice of his incredible talent while he plays for a team competing on the most important fronts.

Kane is currently the leader in the race for