Ballon d’Or 2025 betting odds: Vinicius Jr early favourite

As the controversy continues over Manchester City midfielder Rodri winning the 2024 Ballon d'Or, betting sites have already released their odds on next season's winner, and Vinicius Junior has been installed as the favourite.

The Real Madrid star was the leading contender with football betting sites to win the 2024 prize, only to be pipped at the post by Rodri in a decision which raised eyebrows.

Real Madrid discovered the news when the result was leaked and despite winning three awards, they decided to boycott the event amid reports suggesting they felt disrespected on behalf of the Brazilian.

Manager Carlo Ancelotti was named Men's Coach of the Year, the Madrid side were named Men's Team of the Year and striker Kylian Mbappe was joint-winner of the Gerd Muller Trophy with Harry Kane, as they both scored 52 goals last season.

Having three players in the top five of the betting odds again is unlikely to do much to appease Real Madrid right now, although their form on the pitch has not been at the high standards expected at the Bernabeu, losing 4-0 to Barcelona in El Clasico.

Despite trailing Barca in LaLiga and losing to Lille in the Champions League, Vinicius Junior remains the standout contender to win the title ahead of his Real Madrid teammates with Mbappe at and Jude Bellingham, who was third this time around at .

It's hard to see what more the Brazilian can do this season to guarantee he wins the title this time next year, after all his performances over the last year were special.

The 24-year-old was Real Madrid's top goalscorer with 24 goals in all competitions last season as they won LaLiga, the Spanish Super Cup and the Uefa Champions League.

He also assisted with 11 further goals giving him 35 goal contributions in just 39 appearances in all competitions – which works out at a goal or assist every 88 minutes. All of this while also missing two months of the season.

Vinicius already has eight goals in 16 appearances this season, including a hat-trick in Real's recent 5-2 win over Borussia Dortmund.

However, he also has to share the limelight at the Bernabeu this season with Mbappe. The Frenchman has not enjoyed a seamless transition into the Los Blancos set-up, but he has still managed six goals in 10 LaLiga appearances.

As Mbappe continues to settle into the system under Ancelotti, his quality will surely shine through making him a strong contender for the crown.

Bellingham is curious case as he has struggled to hit the heights of his debut campaign. He also has undoubted ability on the pitch, but he will need a strong second half of the campaign to push himself into contention.

Manchester City striker Erling Haaland is also a strong contender on betting apps at odds of to make it successsive Ballon d'Or trophies for Pep Guardiola's side.

Rodri was the first City to player to win the accolade, and although the Spaniard's ACL injury has ruled him out of contention, Haaland is certainly a standout candidate to make it two in two years.

He already has 17 goals for club and country and we're not even a quarter of the way through the season. If he can keep scoring at that pace, he will definitely be on track to challenge for the Gerd Muller Trophy again, previously winning the award in 2023.

Haaland will have to be at the heart of another successful season for City to claim the prize.

Guardiola's men will be eyeing their fifth Premier League crown in a row along with a return to Champions League glory after surrendering their title to Madrid last season. If Haaland plays a crucial role in both titles, he will be hard to overlook.

Barcelona star Lamine Yamal makes up the top five and online bookmakers have him after just winning the Kopa Trophy which is presented to the best-performing player worldwide under the age of 21.

Seeing as he is still only 17, he could dominate that category for years to come but if his meteoric rise continues at the rate it's going who knows what he could have achieved by this time next year.

He burst onto the scene last season breaking all sorts of LaLiga and Champions League records and was a surprise inclusion in Spain's 26-man squad for the European Championship.

When he played against Croatia, he became the youngest player to feature in the tournament, aged just 16 years and 338 days.

He scored in the semi-final win over France and played 89 minutes of the final as Spain beat England to win the trophy, and his performances saw him named Uefa Young Player of the Tournament.

The midfielder has continued where he left off last season with six goals so far, including one in the recent 4-0 over Real Madrid to cap off an excellent performance.

Outsiders include Robert Lewandowski at , Harry Kane at , and Mohamed Salah at

Salah could be playing his final season for Liverpool and has made an impressive start to the campaign in all competitions, notably the Premier League where he will look to lead Arne Slot's men to the top flight crown.

Lewandowski has been in inspired form in LaLiga in Barca's outstanding start to the season. If the Pole can keep up his form and fire the Catalan side back to the Spanish title, then he could be an interesting player to watch come awards time next year.

Kane has been equally potent in front of goal for Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga and Champions League. His four-goal performance against Dinamo Zagreb saw him surpass Wayne Rooney as the highest scoring English player in the Champions League. After sharing the Gerd Muller Trophy with Mbappe this time around, Kane could have his sights set higher next year.

There is plenty of football still to play before the shortlists are announced and no doubt some new names with force their way into the reckoning. Look out for the 2025 Ballon d'Or odds over the course of the season to keep up to date with the top contenders.

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