Lamine Yamal had a bullish answer when he was asked whether he dreams of winning a Ballon d'Or.
Barcelona have started the new Spanish season with two wins and a draw, scoring seven goals against Mallorca, Levante and Rayo Vallecano.
18-year-old Yamal scored two of them and assisted another two, and was directly involved in three of Spain's nine goals in the September international match week.
It's been a productive opening month for player, club and country. Yamal is targeting trophies across the board.
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European champions Spain will aim to add another World Cup in North America next summer and Barcelona's ambitions include retaining the league title at home and making a better fist than last season of the Champions League in Europe.
Yamal fancies some individual recognition too and he's not afraid to say it.
Speaking on an upcoming episode of the Resonancia de Corazon podcast with Spanish journalist Jose Ramon de la Morena, the teenage phenom set out his bold desire for solo accolades.
"I don’t dream of winning one Ballon d’Or, but I dream of winning many of them," said Yamal.
"I believe I am a player capable of achieving that, and if I don’t achieve it, it will be because I didn’t do things the right way, not because I didn’t want to.
"So, I dream of having many of them, and when the day comes that I get there, I will be very happy, but I will keep winning more and winning with my team and everything."
There's no reason to doubt that Yamal has at least one Ballon d'Or in his future. He would become the seventh Barcelona player to receive the trophy.
The most recent and most prolific of those was Lionel Messi, who won six of his eight golden balls as a Barcelona player between 2009 and 2019 before winning again while playing for Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Miami.
2025 Ballon d'Or nominees
Yamal is one of the 30 players nominated for the Men's Ballon d'Or, which will be awarded in Paris on September 22nd.
The other nominees include compatriot and teammate Pedri as well as Fabian Ruiz of PSG.
Barcelona's Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski have also been nominated along with former Barcelona striker Ousmane Dembele, the favourite to win the 2025 award after firing PSG to Champions League glory last season.
Topics: Football, La Liga, Barcelona, Lamine Yamal, Ballon d'Or
Chris Nee