Former Ballon d’Or winner, Jean-Pierre Papin, has said that Lamine Yamal of Barcelona deserves the 2025 Ballon d’Or award.
The former Bayern Munich and AC Milan star overlooked his countrymen, Ousmane Dembele and Kylian Mbappe, who are also in the race for the award.
The teenager was outstanding for Barcelona last season, helping them to a domestic treble.
He scored 18 goals and made 25 assists in 55 games for the Catalans.
Papin told SPORT, “Lamine Yamal deserves to win the Golden Ball this year. For me Yamal was the best and had an exceptional season.”
Yamal will have to fight off competition from Dembele, Mbappe, Vitinha and many others in the 30-man list released by France Football.
Yamal will become the 7th player from Barcelona to win the award if he finally claims it on September 22. He will be the club’s first winner since Lionel Messi in 2019.
Ballon d’Or 2025: Ex-French star, Papin snubs Mbappe, Dembele names favourite
