Zlatan Ibrahimović claims Barcelona star deserved to win Ballon d’Or | OneFootball

A member of the attacking ranks at La Liga giants Barcelona was deserving of this year’s Ballon d’Or award in the eyes of ex-Blaugrana frontman Zlatan Ibrahimović.

The Swede made as much clear on Saturday, pointing towards Lamine Yamal as the player in question.

Frontman Lamine of course missed out on the 2025 ‘Golden Ball’ by a whisker last month.

This came after the 18-year-old saw his efforts over the course of the prior 12 months recognised by way of a 2nd-placed finish.

Ousmane Dembélé was instead crowned world football’s best, after guiding Paris Saint-Germain to a first-ever Champions League title.

As alluded to above, though, one individual of the opinion that Lamine was the more deserving of the pair is Zlatan Ibrahimović.

Speaking during an appearance at the Trento Sports Festival, as cited by Mundo Deportivo, this weekend, former Barcelona goalscorer Ibrahimović explained:

“You have to judge the player who made the difference individually. For me, Yamal did.”

Conor Laird – GSFN