Kylian Mbappé snubs Lamine Yamal amid Ballon d'Or race: "Who?" | OneFootball

The countdown to find out the next winner of the 2025 Ballon d'Or is entering its final stretch. The mystery will be resolved on September 22 in Paris. Among the top contenders are heavyweight names like Lamine Yamal and Ousmane Dembélé, figures who made their mark on the season in Europe. And amid this discussion, a prominent voice like Kylian Mbappé's joined in with statements that did not go unnoticed.

The Real Madrid star, currently focused with the French national team at the start of the World Cup Qualifiers, was asked for his prediction for the individual award and was categorical. “Dembélé deserves it, I’ve supported him from the beginning and I hope he wins it. We’ll see what happens because it doesn’t depend on us,” he said in an interview with Telefoot. Strong words that showed his absolute support for his compatriot.

The curious part, however, came when he was asked about other possible candidates like Achraf Hakimi and Lamine Yamal. There, the Frenchman did not hesitate to praise the Moroccan full-back, saying “it would be fantastic to show that football is for all positions,” but when the young Barcelona player was mentioned, his reaction drew attention: “Who was the third one, did you say? Oh. Very good player. But from Barcelona. You can’t say anything. But he’s a very good player,” he said.

The statement did not go unnoticed in the Blaugrana community. Mbappé’s silence when talking about Yamal can be read as a maneuver to avoid giving more prominence to the jewel of his classic rival, while also avoiding any anger from the White House. Even so, Mbappé did not name a teammate either, instead opting for a compatriot (Dembélé) and a former PSG teammate (Hakimi).

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