Former Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter Milan midfielder Luis Figo has backed Lamine Yamal and Ousmane Dembele to be in the Ballon d'Or reckoning alongside one of the most in-form players in world football.
The debate around who will win the next Ballon d'Or is in full swing, with a number of candidates in contention to scoop football's biggest individual prize.
Ahead of this month's Nations League final between Spain and Portugal, Cristiano Ronaldo named his three contenders for the Ballon d'Or, which will be announced in September at the Theatre du Chatelet, Paris.
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“The individual awards have lost some consensus; I can’t say anything about who should win," he began. "In my opinion, those who stand out and win the Champions League should win.”
Ronaldo added: "But there is no consensus. I don’t believe much in individual awards because I know what goes on behind the scenes. Lamine could win, like Dembele or Vitinha, other emerging players, but individual awards are irrelevant.”
PSG and France forward Ousmane Dembele, who has scored 32 goals in all competitions across 2024/25, is currently the bookies favourite to win the award at 2/5 with Bet365, while Barcelona's Lamine Yamal is the second-favourite with odds of 11/4.
Luis Figo tips another PSG player to challenge for Ballon d'Or
Speaking in an interview with AS, former Ballon d'Or winner Figo tipped Vitinha to be in with a shout for the individual prize alongside Yamal and Dembele.
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"There are several players who deserve the trophy based on their season," said Figo.
"My opinion is irrelevant; the person voting is the one who decides. But I like players like Lamine; Vitinha, who has won everything this season; Dembélé, who has done very well too… It depends on whether you're looking at individual performance for the Ballon d'Or or the titles you've won."
He added: "It depends on personal taste and what you focus on when awarding this important award. Nothing outside of what people talk about."
Asked if Vitinha could be the dark horse, the former Real Madrid and Barcelona midfielder said: "He's on the list. He has a chance of winning, but, as I said, it depends on who votes and, of course, what you focus on during the season."
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Figo also played down Kylian Mbappe being in contention, despite winning the European Golden Shoe for the first time in his career following a 31-goal haul in La Liga.
"Things weren't so great at first, but he's done well since then," said Figo.
"He's scored a lot of goals and has adapted to playing for Real Madrid, which is totally different from playing for any other team. What could rule him out for individual trophies is his lack of major team titles, but we'll see what happens. He's a name that's always on the lists of the best in the world, there's no doubt about it."
Topics: Luis Figo, Ballon d'Or
Jack Kenmare