Featured Image Credit: COPE/Getty
Topics: Lamine Yamal, Ballon d'Or, Barcelona, Ousmane Dembele, Champions League, Football, La Liga, PSG, Luis Enrique
Luke Davies
Topics: Lamine Yamal, Ballon d'Or, Barcelona, Ousmane Dembele, Champions League, Football, La Liga, PSG, Luis Enrique
Barcelona and Spain winger Lamine Yamal gave an interesting response when he was asked about the race for the 2025 Ballon d’Or.
Yamal, 17, went from strength to strength during the 2024/25 campaign, producing 18 goals and 25 assists in 55 appearances, which helped his Barcelona side win a domestic treble as well as reach the Champions League semi-finals.
As a reward for his efforts, he penned a new six-year deal at the Catalans, which keeps him at the La Liga champions until at least 2031.
And despite still being 17, the teenager is one of the favourites to win the 2025 Ballon d’Or.
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Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, Barca teammate Raphinha and PSG forward Ousmane Dembele have all been favourites throughout the campaign, but after PSG’s Champions League final victory against Inter, Oddschecker have the Frenchman as the favourite.
The topic was put to Yamal while he is currently away on international duty ahead of Spain’s Nations League semi-final against France on Thursday.
"I am confident that we [Spain] will win on Thursday, but whether we win or not, I would still vote for the best player in the world,” Yamal told COPE.
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"If Thursday doesn’t go the way I want or Dembele wants, then what? You’re voting for someone else who plays on Sunday? I’m the kind of person who votes for the best player over the whole year. But if people want to risk it all on one game, well… we can play that game then."
He added: “I don't think about the Ballon d'Or; I think you will end up badly if you only think about that. I think about winning trophies. Imagine if I win the World Cup and the UCL next year, then the Ballon d'Or will come by itself. But the most important thing is to enjoy football."
So, what has Dembele said about his chance of winning the Ballon d’Or?
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Ahead of PSG’s Champions League final victory, Dembele said: “I am focused on the team, not individual trophies. It [Ballon d'Or] is in the back of my mind, but I want to focus on the team.”
But his manager, Luis Enrique, was less modest.
“I would give the Ballon d’Or to Ousmane Dembele,” Enrique said after PSG’s triumph. “He defended, he attacked. The pressing was so good.
“I think without a shadow of a doubt it should go to him. I think he was exceptional in this final.
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“Dembele was incredible. He didn’t give them [the defence] room to breathe. This game is one where we were in cruise control. It was a great game.”