Ballon d'Or 2024 live updates: Rodri most likely to win in the absence of Vinicius – and no Lionel Messi this year

Real Madrid believe Manchester City midfielder Rodri will be announced as the 2024 Ballon d'Or winner later today Vinicius Junior for the award.

The 24-year-old Brazil international is unlikely to attend Monday's ceremony in Paris pending the result. Madrid's director of institutional relations, Emilio Butragueno, is also not traveling to the event, which will now not feature a club.

Should he win, Rodri, 28, would be rewarded after winning the Premier League title with City and Euro 2024 with Spain.

Many considered Vinicius Jr. a leading candidate to win the award after he scored 24 goals in the 2023-24 season and helped Madrid win three trophies, including La Liga and the Champions League.

He scored six Champions League goals, including in the final against Borussia Dortmund and twice against Bayern Munich in the semi-finals, while he scored four against Barcelona in the domestic season.

A win for Rodri would be the first for a Premier League player since 2008 when Cristiano Ronaldo, then at Manchester United, won the first of his five crowns.