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Topics: Ballon d'Or, Gary Lineker, Football, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Paris Saint-Germain
Marcus Chan
Topics: Ballon d'Or, Gary Lineker, Football, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Paris Saint-Germain
Gary Lineker has joked that one 'amazing' player shouldn't win the Ballon d'Or due to his position.
After a brilliant 24/25 season came to a close, all eyes will be on the individual prizes.
The biggest prize of all will be the prestigious Ballon d'Or award, which was won by Manchester City's Rodri last year.
This year, the front runners include the likes of Ousmane Dembele, Lamine Yamal, Raphina and Mohamed Salah.
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However, it is expected that a Paris Saint Germain player could end up lifting the trophy after their stunning season ended with a historic Champions League triumph.
Speaking back in May, Lineker tipped PSG to finally win the Champions League.
He said on The Rest Is Football podcast: "I’m going 2-0 PSG. I think it’s their turn, I’ve kept saying it.
"It’s why I tipped Crystal Palace [to win the FA Cup] and after what happened with Newcastle, and Tottenham winning any kind of trophy for the first time in 17 years, I have a feeling it’s that kind of season."
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Lineker then picked out goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma as one of PSG's key figures.
The former England striker continued: "One of the key figures in PSG getting this far has been their goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma – an Italian playing against an Italian team.
"What a number of performances we’ve seen from him in this competition, so even if Inter get through this PSG [defence] they’ve still go one big boy to get past! The Martin Odegaard save was incredible. Through so many bodies, hit really hard, low in the corner. For a giant to get down that quickly, so agile."
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Lineker then asked his fellow pundits: "‘If Donnarumma has another amazing game in the final and is maybe the key figure, is it possible that we get a goalkeeper as the winner of the Ballon d’Or?"
After Micah Richards replied: "That’s not a bad shout," Lineker quickly joked: "I think it’s a terrible shout! I don’t like goalkeepers, they always get in the way of the the goalscorers!"
So far in the history of the Ballon d'Or, only one goalkeeper has won the award, Lev Yashin back in 1963.
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Meanwhile, the last defender to pick up the illustrious gong was in 2006 when Italian Fabio Cannavaro won.
Since then, Virgil van Dijk came close when he finished just seven points behind Lionel Messi in 2019.
The 2025 Ballon d'Or award will be handed out on September 22 at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, France.