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Jeremy Doku has been excellent for Manchester City this season and his growing popularity is reflected in a nickname given to him by fans.
Manchester City had a Ballon d'Or winner in 2024 and could have one in 2026 as well. Erling Haaland is fourth favourite to win the individual award, and next summer's World Cup is likely to have a significant bearing on the outcome.
But City are back in the hunt for the biggest trophies and Haaland's astonishing goalscoring record has already carried Norway to the brink of a place in the tournament. If he ends up winning the Golden Boot in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, it could strengthen his candidacy.
Haaland isn't the City player that fans are linking with the award, however. There was great pride around the Etihad when Rodri won it in 2024, as evidenced by the tributes paid to him ahead of a home game with Tottenham in November of that year, and they would love another player to make a run for it.
Jeremy Doku is unlikely to do that just yet, but he is having a season of spectacular games at the very least, and his growing popularity among supporters is summed up by the regular references to 'Ballon d'Oku' on social media.
It's an easy pun more than an actual statement that Doku should be rivalling Kylian Mbappe and Lamine Yamal as the early favourites for the award, but it works because there is now at least a sliver of believability to it. The Belgian has gone to another level this season.
His stunning goal against Liverpool on Sunday took him to five goals and four assists in 19 games since the start of the Club World Cup. His last six games for Belgium since the start of June have produced three goals and two assists, and the penny seems to have dropped.
Doku has always been a spectacular dribbler, but his challenge has been marrying that to an end product that delivers for his team. Two Etihad fixtures against Liverpool in 2025 have arguably bookend his improvement.
In February, he completed 15 dribbles and took Trent Alexander-Arnold to the cleaners, but City lost 2-0 and barely created a chance. Doku's fancy footwork got him and his team nowhere.
On Sunday, he delivered a similar performance against Conor Bradley but this time sent a series of dangerous balls into the Liverpool box and then took matters into his own hands with his goal.
He became the first player to record 10+ dribbles, 10+ duels won, more than three chances created and shots on target and to score a goal in a Premier League game since Eden Hazard in April 2019. It is a slightly contrived statistic, but it does point to Doku's growing influence in the team.
“I know from the game against Real Madrid how good [Bradley] was against Vinicius,” Guardiola said. “[Doku] played an outstanding game. Outstanding."
Doku was baptised earlier this season and on Sunday evening put his improved performance this season down to having "God in my life".
There is no doubt he has found something that was missing this term. His eye-catching dribbling always made him a player capable of reaching the very highest level. He is the kind of player who gets fans off their seats, but if it doesn't produce attacking returns, then it can be a little pointless.
It's anything but pointless this season, and that is why Doku is now mentioned in the same sentence as the Ballon d'Or.
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