Man United Legend Names Chelsea Star Who Does Not Deserve to Win 2021 Ballon d'Or Award

• Chelsea have five players who have been shortlisted for the 2021 Ballon d'Or award
• Among the five, Jorginho has been singled out as clear favourite to win the prestigious award
• However, according to Rio Ferdinand, N'Golo Kante played a more influential role for Chelsea compared to the Italian
• Jorginho was central in the Blues' Champions League triumph as well as Italy's Euro 2020 glory

Man United icon Rio Ferdinand has suggested Chelsea midfielder Jorginho does not deserve to win the 2021 Ballon d'Or award.

Jorginho is among a star-studded list of players who were nominated for the prestigious individual football prize.

The Blues have five nominees for the award including Romelu Lukaku, Mason Mount, Cesar Azpilicueta and N'Golo Kante.

Jorginho has widely been backed as a clear frontrunner to cart home the award following a successful year that saw him win the Champions League with Chelsea and the Euros with Italy.

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However, Ferdinand contends the former Napoli midfielder should not be one of the leading contenders for this year's edition of the Ballon d'Or.

According to the legendary United defender, Kante played a more influential role in the Blues' European triumph under the tutelage of Thomas Tuchel.

"The Jorginho one baffles me. He’s not the best player at Chelsea and he’s not the first name on the teamsheet with Italy either," Rio noted as quoted by Metro UK.

"Listen, he’s a very good player and I’m not trying to be disrespectful but I don’t see how he gets on the list with those players at the level those guys have been playing at.

"If you look at Chelsea in the run-in to winning the Champions League I think Kante was man of the match in five of the last six games so it baffles me," he added.

Lewandowski backed for Ballon d'Or

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Earlier, TUKO.co.ke reported former England internationals Rio and Peter Crouch have backed Robert Lewandowski to win the Ballon d'Or this year.

Lewandowski was the clear favourite to cart home the award in 2020 but missed out after the award was cancelled due to the pandemic.

But despite the heartbreak, the Polish forward picked the 2021/22 season from where he left and has continued to prove on the pitch why he is one of the finest forwards in Europe right now with his goalscoring form.