The World Cup winning centre-back is believed to be in
second place at the half way stage of the voting

Raphael Varane’s odds have been dramatically slashed
this month for the Ballon d’Or from 150/1 into as short as 5/1.

The 25-year-old has enjoyed an unbelievable year,
winning the Champions League and the World Cup, the two most coveted
competitions in World football.

Credit: PA

It was leaked just a few days ago that at the half way
stage in the voting, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were remarkably not
even in the top three.

Luka Modric, Rafa Varane & Kylian Mbappe are
believed to be the trio in the lead. They are available at best odds of 4/7,
16/1 and 14/1 respectively.

History does count against the Real Madrid central
half, as no defender has even made the podium since Fabio Cannavaro in 2006.

Credit: PA

Punters are siding with the Croatian World Cup hero
Modric, the odds-on favourite racking up 36.1% of all bets this month. Ronaldo
is a close second with with 31.6%.

If Modric does win the sought-after award he would be
the first player aside from Ronaldo and Messi to win the trophy since Kaka in
2007.

Oddschecker spokesman, George Elek: ‘In a World Cup
year it seems fair that the winner of the Ballon d’Or should have represented
the country that won football’s biggest prize.

‘Varane was successful for both club and country so,
whilst hindsight is a wonderful thing, that he was ever 150/1 does seem like
amazing value.’

Via Oddschecker