Thierry Henry snubbed Lamine Yamal when naming four main contenders for 2025 Ballon d'Or
Thierry Henry snubbed Lamine Yamal when naming the main contenders for the 2025 Ballon d'Or.
Yamal is among the players aiming to win this year's Ballon d'Or following his stellar performances for Barcelona and Spain.
The 17-year-old scored an impressive 18 goals across all competitions for Barca last season and continued to shine on the international stage, helping his country reach the Nations League final.
But Spain succumbed to Portugal in Sunday's final as Cristiano Ronaldo made his feelings clear on who should win the prestigious individual award.
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Henry has already made his feelings known on the Ballon d'Or, too.
Earlier this year, Henry listed Liverpool's Mohamed Salah, Bayern Munich's Harry Kane and Paris Saint-Germain's Ousmane Dembele, who is thought to be the frontrunner to win the award.
The Arsenal legend, who never won the Ballon d'Or during his distinguished career, also name-dropped Raphinha, claiming he was 'ahead' of his rivals.
Speaking on CBS Sports last March, he said: "Raphinha is ahead, yes, with the Ballon d’Or. Because of what he is doing in the Champions League, he is on 11 goals in the Champions League.
"Mo Salah is a great contender for it, Kane is a contender and [Ousmane] Dembele it depends."
Henry added: "Raphinha is on a lot of goals with only one penalty. And I’m not saying Kane shouldn’t have penalties. Mo Salah is having a season in the Premier League that we will never see again, but I’m saying if a guy has virtually the same amount of goals as you guys score but without penalties, I’m not going to say that’s bad what you did, it’s outstanding, but this guy, I have to talk a bit more about him.
"What Raphinha is doing on top of defending and pressure. When people talk about being complete, as a striker you need to know how to put pressure on and defend, and help your full-back and press well, it’s a lot of things that you need to do and Raphinha has it all."
A lot has happened since Henry's comments on the Ballon d'Or as Dembele's PSG beating Inter Milan to win the Champions League, with Yamal failing to improve his case with a Nations League title.
Salah, Kane and Raphinha won domestic titles with their respective clubs and are also among the contenders for the Ballon d'Or.
Topics: Thierry Henry, Ballon d'Or, Ousmane Dembele, Lamine Yamal, Football
Nasir Jabbar