Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos could have snapped up a remarkable Ballon d’Or-nominated talent for Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim this summer at a discount price.
The 2025 Ballon d’Or nominees finally dropped on Thursday and France Football revealed the 30-man shortlist for the sought-after individual football prize.
Former Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay, who is now at Serie A side Napoli, was named among the nominees for France Football’s Ballon d’Or award.
No current United first-team players were named on the shortlist for this edition of the Ballon d’Or after a woeful 2024-25 Premier League season at Old Trafford.
The Ballon d’Or organisers will hold the ceremony on 22nd September at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, with Ousmane Dembele widely tipped as the favourite to win.
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A detailed view of the Ballon d’Or award won by Manchester City midfielder Rodri ahead of the Premier League match between Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur at the Etihad Stadium in 2024 in Manchester, England.
Photo by Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images
Denzel Dumfries was linked with Man Utd and Man City and the Inter Milan star is now in the 2025 Ballon d’Or race
Denzel Dumfries has attracted Manchester United’s interest and the Red Devils were linked with the 29-year-old Dutch full-back again during the summer window.
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The Netherlands international, who can play as a right-back or a right wing-back, was in impressive form for former Inter Milan manager Simone Inzaghi.
Denzel Dumfries, who arrived at the San Siro from PSV Eindhoven in 2021, netted 11 times and picked up six assists in 47 matches across all competitions last season.
Despite the Inter star’s impressive campaign for the Italian club, the Serie A side ended their 2024-25 season under Simone Inzaghi without any major silverware.
Inter were thrashed 5-0 in the final of the Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain and Inzaghi’s men narrowly missed out on the Serie A title to Napoli.
While Dumfries is very much unlikely to challenge for the Ballon d’Or, his nomination is a reminder to Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos about his eye-catching release clause.
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What was Denzel Dumfries’ Inter Milan release clause amid Man Utd, Man City and Barcelona’s transfer interest?
Denzel Dumfries has a release clause in his current contract with the 2024-25 Serie A runners-up, with his current deal with Inter Milan expiring in 2028.
However, the former PSV star’s release clause came with a catch, with it only becoming active in mid-July before it expired at the end of the same month.
Dumfries’ release clause was only £21.5m (€25m) and it became live on 15th July, with United not making a move for the defender before it deactivated on 31st July.
United were not alone with their interest in Dumfries and the Inter ace attracted interest from both Premier League side Manchester City and La Liga outfit Barcelona.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos both missed out on signing a ready-made talent who has all of the abilities needed to excel in Ruben Amorim’s tactical system at United.