Nasri predicts 2025 Ballon d'Or podium: three PSG players make the cut

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·28. August 2025

Nasri predicts 2025 Ballon d'Or podium: three PSG players make the cut

Champions League winner Paris Saint-Germain sees several of its players as contenders for the next Ballon d’Or. Speaking to Canal+, Samir Nasri, former player and now consultant, shared his thoughts on the matter and revealed his top 3.

Nasri: “I think it’s also deserved to honor a player who’s not supposed to ‘shine’”

“In third place, tied: Vitinha and Hakimi. Hakimi, today I think he’s the best right-back or right-sided player in the world. I think it’s also deserved to honor a player who’s not supposed to ‘shine’. He had good stats, he’s in double-double for the season, bravo. He deserves it. Vitinha, I think with Luis Enrique, his move to a holding midfielder role allowed him to evolve his game. He has such technical quality to restart play, set the tempo for his team, and that’s very important for a team like PSG that tries to dominate its opponents relentlessly. Having a guy who puts his foot on the ball is important.”

Nasri: “At the start of the season, I put a magnifying glass on him”

“Yamal, for his extraordinary season, what he’s doing at his age, the maturity as well—at the start of the season, I put a magnifying glass on him to see because there was a lot of talk about his lifestyle, even for his birthday he stirred up controversy. You take the number 10 at Barça, which weighs a ton and a half, and he steps up.”

Nasri: “He’s starting to find efficiency and I think he fully deserves it.”

“For his extraordinary season, his decisive character throughout the season, and because he’s French, I’m not going to put someone else in place of a Frenchman when a Frenchman can win it. I think we talk a lot about PSG’s collective, but it still took an individual like Ousmane Dembélé, who scored so many goals and in important moments. I think his turning point, which happened in December, is when everything changed, when he started to find efficiency, and I think he fully deserves it.”

The race for the Ballon d’Or often leads to debates, but it’s hard to spark one this season. With PSG as European champions, winners of the domestic double, and also winners of the European Super Cup, it’s clear today that a Parisian will win the Ballon d’Or.

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The challenge now is to know who will be the most legitimate between Ousmane Dembélé, Achraf Hakimi, and Vitinha. PSG has such collective strength that it’s difficult to single out just one individual, even though these three players always manage to stand out thanks to their outstanding performances.

Overall, for the capital club, the most important thing was achieved by winning the Champions League. Now, this individual trophy will reward a successful season for one of them, who will join the legends of this sport.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇫🇷 here.