Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min could become the first Asian player to win the Ballon d'Or three times, according to speculation.

Global soccer media 'Soccer90' posted a series of photos on social media on April 4 (KST) with the title "2024 Ballon d'Or Power Ranking by 'GOAL'".

The photos show the 20 soccer players who are closest to winning the 2024 Ballon d'Or based on their current performances. Voting for the 2023 Ballon d'Or recently concluded, with the "God of Soccer" Lionel Messi (Inter Miami) receiving the most votes and winning his eighth Ballon d'Or.

Now, the world's best players will give it their all in the remaining matches with the goal of winning the 2024 Ballon d'Or, and global media outlet GOAL has named 20 players who are close to winning next year's Ballon d'Or at this point. The inclusion of Son Heung-min caught the attention of Korean soccer fans.

The publication ranked Son Heung-min 20th, the last of the 20, in its Ballon d'Or power rankings. Despite being a long way from the trophy, Son's strong performances since the start of the 2023/24 season have put him on the shortlist for next year's Ballon d'Or voting. 카지노사이트777

To date, Son has eight goals and one assist for the club. He is tied for second in the Premier League with Mohamed Salah (8 goals-Liverpool), as his goalscoring form has exploded, especially since he switched positions from left winger to central striker in September. The top scorer is Elling Holland (Manchester City) with 11 goals.

Spurs, who finished eighth in the league last season, have defied the odds by going unbeaten in their opening 10 league games (8 wins, 2 draws), thanks in large part to Son Heung-min. If Spurs win their 2023/24 Premier League Round 11 matchup against Chelsea on July 7 at 5:00 a.m., they will leapfrog Man City (27-9 LW, 2-2 D) for the top spot in the league.

It's still early in the season, but Tottenham's form is so strong that some are starting to seriously consider the club's chances of winning the Premier League.

According to the BBC, Spurs became just the 13th team to win 26 or more points in their first 10 games since the Premier League began in 1992. Six of the 12 teams before them won the title, so oddsmakers give Spurs a 50 percent chance of being crowned Premier League champions.

"It remains to be seen if Spurs can maintain their current pace since manager Anze Postecoglou's red-hot start to life in North London, but the longer they stay in the Premier League title race, the more attention will be focused on their players," the publication claimed.

"The one to watch will be Son Heung-min, who has stepped up since Harry Kane's departure and rediscovered his goalscoring touch after a disappointing 2022/23 campaign."

"There is no UEFA Champions League to impress the Ballon d'Or jury, but with the Asian Cup coming up next January, Son could add an international trophy to his collection this season."

Son and the South Korean national football team are set to compete in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup in Qatar starting on January 12, 2024. The Asian Cup is a FIFA-sanctioned tournament, so teams can't opt out, and Son Heung-min is the captain of the national team, so his participation is guaranteed unless there are unforeseen circumstances such as injury.

Although the Asian Cup is not as high-profile as other continental tournaments such as the European Football Championship (Euro) or the Copa America, if Son leads his country to the top of the tournament, he could make an impression on the Ballon d'Or voters.

If Son does make the Ballon d'Or shortlist once again, it will be the third time in his career that he has been recognized. He has already been named to the shortlist of 30 finalists for the Ballon d'Or twice before, in 2019 and 2022. After leading the Premier League in scoring in the 2021/22 season, he finished 11th in the 2022 Ballon d'Or voting, the highest ranking ever for an Asian player.

Son is already the only Asian player to have been named a Ballon d'Or finalist twice, so it was highly anticipated that he would make Asian soccer history by becoming an unprecedented three-time Ballon d'Or finalist.

Notably, the 2023 Ballon d'Or winner is ranked 19th in the power rankings, just above Son Heung-min, a reflection of the fact that Messi is currently playing in the U.S. Major League Soccer (MLS) instead of Europe, and Messi himself said at the ceremony that "this is most likely my last Ballon d'Or," predicting that future Ballon d'Ors will be won by younger players.

Messi's rival, five-time Ballon d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo (Al Nasr), came in at No. 15. Rounding out the top five closest to the Ballon d'Or were Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Elling Holland (Manchester City), Kylian Mbappe (PSG), and Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid).

The publication placed "monster striker" Holland, who finished second in this year's Ballon d'Or voting, in third place, while Real's new ace Bellingham is the closest player to winning the 2024 Ballon d'Or trophy based on his current form with the team. French star and this year's Ballon d'Or runner-up Mbappe was thought to be a step up to second.