England star tipped for future Ballon d'Or win - and it's not Jude Bellingham

Brentford manager Thomas Frank has named the one England player he believes is most likely to win the Ballon d'Or in the future, plumping for Manchester City's Phil Foden instead of Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham.

23-year-old Foden is enjoying his most consistent season for City yet, scoring 15 goals in all competitions to date in addition to contributing ten assists.

The last English player to win the Ballon d'Or was Michael Owen back in 2001, with the prize dominated in recent years by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

But with both at the latter stages of their career, playing in the United States and Saudi Arabia respectively, a new generation is likely to break through and win the award in the coming years - with Foden the most likely English player to win it in the eyes of Frank.

"Foden is a very good player, for me he is the closest England will get to winning a Ballon d'Or in the future,' the Bees boss said, speaking ahead of Brentford's Premier League clash with Manchester City on Tuesday night.

"He can influence the game in so many ways, the last game against us he got on the end of three situations and scored three goals. He is a very good dribbler and works very hard for the team.

"I don't know him but looking from the outside has a good mentality, he is very good and is playing regularly for one of the best teams in the world.

'When I watch him play I like him a lot as a player."

Frank saw first hand what Foden can do recently, with City coming from a goal down to beat Brentford 3-1 at the Gtech Community Stadium. The versatile attacking midfielder netted his first career hat-trick to seal all three points for Pep Guardiola's side, reinforcing his status as one of the Spaniard's most important players ahead of the title run-in.

Foden didn't make the top 30 shortlist for last year's Ballon d'Or, but did finish 22nd in 2022 and 25th in 2021. Bellingham, Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka were England's trio of representatives in 2023, with the former finishing highest in 18th place.

Bellingham has since established himself as one of the best central midfielders in the world, scoring 20 goals in his first 29 games as a Real Madrid player.

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