World Cup winner Lionel Messi is set to win his eighth Ballon d’OrCredit: Getty

Messi now plays for Inter Miami in MLSCredit: AP

The self-proclaimed GOAT ruled himself out of the running for football’s ultimate individual award when he flounced off to the desert at the start of the year.

Because it seems that finishing runner-up in the Saudi Pro League is not quite enough to convince his fan boys to keep casting their votes in his favour.

So now the trophy will be presented to the guy whose current team is next to bottom of the MLS (Eastern Conference).

And poor old Cristiano will have a face like a slapped arse when arch-nemesis Lionel Messi displays his golden ball for a record eighth time.

Not that he has officially been confirmed as King Leo the 8th just yet.

But let’s not kid ourselves that anyone else is in with a shout after the news of Messi’s impending coronation was leaked this week.

The deal was sealed the moment he slipped on that negligee to lift the World Cup in Qatar last December.

And you have to ask what more Erling Haaland could possibly have done to win first prize after the season he had for Manchester City.

The Norwegian phenomenon scored an unbelievable 52 goals to help City win a Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup Treble.

Yes, Messi won the French league with Paris Saint-Germain despite supporters demanding he be sacked for an unauthorised mid-season commercial trip to Saudi.

But he’s not getting the Ballon d’Or for coming first in a one-horse race.

He’s getting it on the back of six games for Argentina — presumably they’re not including the defeat by Saudi Arabia in their opening World Cup group match.

Four of his seven tournament goals were scored from the penalty spot and you could argue that he wasn’t even the best player in Qatar.

That was Kylian Mbappe, who scored a hat-trick in the final and was the tournament’s top scorer, yet is 66-1 to be named World Player of the Year in his home city next week.

At least Messi’s coronation will be the first time in 15 years that the award hasn’t gone to a player from Real Madrid or Barcelona.

So maybe we should be grateful for small mercies.

But it is obvious that the entire voting process is flawed when the judges are so much in thrall to two clubs from the same country.

The great irony is that it is 63 years since Luis Suarez became the one and only Spanish-born winner of the award.

No wonder Jude Bellingham was so keen to move to Madrid this year. He knows it’s the only way he will receive the universal recognition his brilliance deserves.

Only four Englishmen (Stanley Matthews, Bobby Charlton, Kevin Keegan and Michael Owen) have ever won the Ballon d’Or in its 67-year history.

And the last player to win it while playing for an English club was (surprise, surprise) Ronaldo when he was still at Manchester United back in 2008.

Maybe Haaland can change all that by scoring 100 goals for City this season and winning the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup,Carabao Cup, European Super Cup and Club World Cup.

He’d just better pray that Inter Miami don’t make the MLS play-offs.