Ballon d'Or, Ballon d'Or, Ballon d'Or... Rio Ferdinand has made himself almost synonymous with the award following his bizarre response to Vinicius Jr's goal in the Champions League final last season. This year, Mohamed Salah is among the favorites, and the former Man United defender has weighed in again.

Of course, Ferdinand ended up being mistaken last year, with the award ultimately going to Rodri over Vinicius Jr. Man City put up a smug banner reminding the Real Madrid star of that fact recently, before promptly being dumped out of the Champions League.

No Man City players are likely to be in the running this season, with their league fortunes little better than their European ones. With Liverpool flying high on both fronts, albeit facing a tough test against PSG, Salah is certainly in contention.

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Indeed, if the award were to be handed out now, it's hard to think of anyone who could even come close to Salah. He has posted frankly ridiculous numbers on the way to almost-assured silverware — given how well Arne Slot has done, the Egyptian's closest rivals would arguably be from his own team.

Even Virgil van Dijk would probably accept, however, that he might have to resign himself to another runners-up finish, having missed out narrowly to Lionel Messi in 2019. He is once again being outshone by the best player in the world.

That said, the award is not handed out now. There has always been an unofficial bias toward brilliance delivered at the business end of campaigns, and that has effectively been formalized, with the Ballon d'Or now awarded on a season-by-season basis rather than at the end of each calendar year.

And while Salah looks well on track to claim his second Premier League title, and is a Wembley final away from the Carabao Cup, that alone may not be enough. Inevitably, there will be plenty of focus on Champions League fortunes.

Ferdinand thinks that could prove decisive. He's named a handful of players who could overtake Salah if they fare better in Europe:

"Right now at this moment in time, I don't think there's anyone else on the podium with him," Ferdinand admitted to TNT Sports. "But I think with the way the Champions League works, as you get through the knockout stages and someone starts coming to the fore, they end up there.

"It comes down to moments in big games, really. You can throw Salah in there, you can throw [Ousmane] Dembele in there if PSG go far, [Kylian] Mbappe will be there, [as will] Vinicius [Junior] and [Jude] Bellingham.

"Whoever keeps their status and turns up in the semi-final and final will win it. If they [Liverpool] win the Champions League, I'm sure he'll play a big part."

One of the rivals name-checked by Ferdinand will be going head-to-head with Salah in Paris. Ousmane Dembele is having a strong season for PSG, with six goals in eight Champions League outings and 18 strikes in 22 Ligue 1 games.

Like Salah, his side has all but wrapped up the league title. So perhaps this Round of 16 clash could turn into a decisive battle for the Ballon d'Or.

As for Mbappe, Vinicius and Bellingham, all three earned a slender home advantage over Atletico Madrid in yesterday's match-up, despite being outplayed for much of the contest. But even if Real Madrid do go far in the Champions League once again, you wonder if the trio of superstars might somewhat split the vote.

So let's hope that Ferdinand is once again screaming "Ballon d'Or" soon, this time as Mohamed Salah bears down on goal against PSG. For all his brilliance this season, it may well be true that he now needs to deliver on the big stage in Europe — but the way he has been playing lately, you'd back him to find a way to score against absolutely anybody.