The King – Barcelona sensation has the most MOTM awards in Europe’s top five leagues since last season | OneFootball

Lamine Yamal will be one of the favourites to win the Ballon d’Or when the gala takes place in Paris later this month.

This is due to a brilliant 12 months that saw the young attacker go from being one of Spain’s most talented youngsters to becoming one of the best players in world football.

Indeed, Yamal is coming on the back of a season that saw him muster 18 goals and 25 assists, all while he was just 17. He was also key in Spain’s successful European Championship campaign.

Yamal leads Europe in most MOTM awards

Yamal’s importance and talent cannot be quantified through pure goal and assist numbers, as his actual contributions in a game are far greater.

This is perhaps the reason why Yamal is currently leading Europe in terms of Man of the Match awards won since the start of last season.

During this period, the Barcelona attacker has won 15 MOTM awards – more than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues.

This is quite significant to Lionel Messi’s time at Barcelona, when Argentina used to win MOTM awards in almost every other match.

Last season, Yamal bagged 12 MOTM awards, and this season, he has already won three in three matches, as per Whoscored data.

Mason Greenwood had the second-best tally last season with 11, whereas Raphinha and Mohamed Salah received 10 MOTM awards each.

Yamal leads the tally this season with three MOTM awards, but is closely followed by Harry Kane, who has won it twice in three matches.

The likes of Nico Williams, Kylian Mbappe and Quentin Merlin have also won it twice this season, but Kane is the most significant as the Englishman won nine MOTM awards in the Bundesliga last season – taking his overall tally to 11.