In Madrid, where Atlético have found a new authority at the heart of their defence, Cristian Romero has turned his attention from stopping elite forwards to football’s most enduring individual argument: the Ballon d’Or.
The 28-year-old Argentina centre-back, now the leader of Atlético’s back line after arriving from Tottenham, spoke after a standout performance against Real Madrid in which he kept Kylian Mbappé under close control. But Romero’s view of the game’s top personal honour left little room for discussion. For him, Lionel Messi remains apart from every other active player.
“The Ballon d’Or should go to Messi until he decides to stop playing,” Romero said. The Atlético defender, who shares an Argentina dressing room with Messi, added: “There is nobody like him.”
Messi has already won the award eight times, more than any player in its history, yet Romero believes his continued presence on the pitch should settle the question each year. The defender referred to the former Barcelona captain as his captain and suggested that football will only need to identify a new standard-bearer once Messi ends his career.
“When he decides to retire, then we will see who we give it to,” Romero said.
Romero also offered a blunt reading of the forces that can shape the Ballon d’Or vote beyond performances alone. Once Messi is gone, he argued, the prize may be decided by “the player with the greatest marketing power, because it is a bit like that.”
For now, Romero’s own focus is in the Spanish capital, where his arrival has given Atlético a forceful new presence in defence. Yet his message from the Metropolitano reached far beyond Madrid: as long as Messi remains in the game, Romero sees no rival for football’s most prestigious individual award.
