7 footballers who won Ballon d'Or in the same year they switched clubs

Winning football's most prestigious individual award is hard enough on its own.

Doing it in the same year you uproot your career for a new club, league, or country is a different level of achievement entirely. Throughout football history, a select group of players have managed to combine a major transfer with a Ballon d'Or triumph, proving that world-class talent doesn't need time to settle before it delivers results.

Here are seven footballers who pulled off that rare double.

Cruyff lifted the European Cup with Ajax before completing his move to FC Barcelona partway through the season. The immediate influence he had on his new Catalan side, layered on top of the continental success he'd already delivered at Ajax, was enough to hand him the second Ballon d'Or of his career.

Gullit guided PSV Eindhoven to the Eredivisie title before becoming AC Milan's record signing that same summer. He adjusted to Serie A almost instantly, and that rapid rise confirmed his status as the standout player in Europe, earning him the Ballon d'Or.

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Weah finished as the Champions League's top scorer while at Paris Saint-Germain before moving to AC Milan that summer. His outstanding form at both clubs made him the first, and to this day the only, African player to win the Ballon d'Or, a milestone that still stands more than two decades on.

Ronaldo had a season for the ages at Barcelona, scoring 47 goals, before signing for Inter Milan within that same transfer window. His form across Spain and Italy, combined with a strong Copa América campaign for Brazil, made him the youngest player ever to win the Ballon d'Or.

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Figo had already impressed at Barcelona and at the European Championship with Portugal before he completed one of the most controversial transfers in football history, joining bitter rivals Real Madrid. He took charge on the pitch almost immediately at his new club and was awarded the Ballon d'Or that same year.

After battling back from a series of serious injuries at Inter Milan, Ronaldo returned to top form to win both the Golden Boot and the World Cup with Brazil in 2002. He signed for Real Madrid that summer and picked up his second Ballon d'Or months later.

Cannavaro captained Italy to World Cup glory in Germany in 2006, conceding just two goals across the tournament. With Juventus relegated over the Calciopoli scandal, he moved to Real Madrid and was awarded the Ballon d'Or shortly after arriving.

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Messi won the Copa del Rey with Barcelona and finally ended Argentina's long wait for a major trophy by winning the Copa América, where he was named the tournament's standout player. His unexpected departure from Barcelona to join PSG later that year came shortly before he claimed a record-extending seventh Ballon d'Or.

Messi capped his career with Argentina by winning the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and added a Ligue 1 title with PSG. In the summer of 2023, he made the surprise move to Inter Miami in MLS, becoming the first player ever to win the Ballon d'Or while playing outside Europe.