Man City have reportedly rejected a request from Man Utd for Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo to join their stars on the club’s chartered flight to Monday’s Ballon d’Or ceremony.
Man Utd pair Mainoo and Garnacho are nominated for the Kopa Trophy, which is awarded to the best player in the world aged under 21.
The current holder of the trophy is Jude Bellingham, who left Borussia Dortmund for Real Madrid last summer.
Mainoo and Garnacho had superb individual seasons despite the Old Trafford club’s notable struggles.
The Red Devils did win the FA Cup with a shock victory over Man City in the final but recorded their worst finish in Premier League history and finished bottom of a Champions League group including FC Copenhagen and Galatasaray.
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Both players join Man City summer signing Savinho on the nominee list and are expected to attend Monday’s ceremony in Paris.
Pep Guardiola’s side have four men’s players – Rodri, Erling Haaland, Phil Foden, Ruben Dias and Savinho – up for awards, while women’s players Yui Hasegawa, Lauren Hemp and Khadija Shaw are also in the running.
Unfortunately for Man Utd, their rivals’ numbers means Mainoo and Garnacho are unable to hop on the flight.
Man City reject unusual Ballon d’Or request from Man Utd
According to the Daily Mail, Erik ten Hag’s side ‘asked’ Man City if there is room for the duo, only for the request to be ‘politely declined’.
This is part of cost-cutting plans put in place by new ownership group INEOS, led by British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who believe ‘the prospect of sending two players on a private jet was not deemed to be a good look in the current climate’.
This is an unusual request but one that is ultimately hard to argue with.
There was ‘no room’ on City’s private jet and Man Utd have been forced to arrange an ‘alternative’ method of travel to the French capital.
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Despite a superb year for Rodri, who won Euro 2024 with Spain and another Premier League title with City, he is not expected to win the Ballon d’Or on Monday.
Instead, the coveted award will reportedly land in the hands of Real Madrid superstar Vinicius Junior, who scored a timely midweek hat-trick against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League.
Vinicius also scored against the German side in the final of the competition in June, helping Los Blancos win their 15th European title.
He scored six goals in the Champions League last season and represented Brazil at Copa America in the summer.
Brazil finished second in their group behind eventual finalists Colombia and were eliminated in the first knockout round, losing on penalties to Marcelo Bielsa’s Uruguay.