It was a great day in the history of Manchester City football club yesterday, as Rodri officially won the Ballon d'Or.

The Spaniard was recognised with the greatest individual prize the game has to offer, beating Real Madrid winger Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham, who came in second and third respectively.

Rodri had long been in contention, following another outstanding year for club and country.

But it had been reported a couple of weeks ago that Vinicius stood to win the award.

Vinicius and Real Madrid caught wind of Rodri's impending victory ahead of the ceremony, and decided not to attend.

They have drawn criticism for that decision, but everyone associated with Manchester City is delighted for Rodri - and the messages have started to come in.

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There is a widespread feeling that this is something Rodri has long deserved.

It is perhaps one for the football purists, with it being many, many years since a defensive-minded player won the award.

City have had a number of top defensive midfielders down the years, but there is now a strong argument to say that Rodri is the best in the club's history.

One man who went before him was Fernandinho, who certainly enjoyed last night's result.

He reacted to Rodri's win on X, with Manchester City reposting his message. He said: "Another great achievement in a very successful career. Well done Rodri."

The Brazilian also included three clapping emojis.

Another of Rodri's old City teammates reacted to the news, with Aymeric Laporte sharing a clip from the Spain account about Rodri. He wrote: "Deserved."

Laporte also shared an old picture of him and Rodri.

An amazing day for Man City Yesterday was another amazing day in the history of Manchester City Football Club.

For all of the club's achievements since the 2008 takeover, there has never been a Ballon d'Or winner at the Etihad Stadium before.

It is perhaps overdue for City to have produced a winner given all the collective success over the years. But Rodri is undoubtedly very deserving of the award.

Between Manchester United sacking Erik ten Hag and Rodri winning the Ballon d'Or, this was quite the day to be a Manchester City fan.

Hopefully, this will now pave the way for other players from City to win the same award in the years to come. The likes of Erling Haaland, Ruben Dias, Phil Foden, Savinho and Oscar Bobb will all feel they'll be in with a shot in the coming years.

There are so many with the potential to following Rodri's footsteps, and they will now all be extra motivated to win the greatest individual prize just like he did.

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