Dembélé or Yamal: Koundé gives his take on the 2025 Ballon d'Or!

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·3 September 2025

Dembélé or Yamal: Koundé gives his take on the 2025 Ballon d'Or!

For several weeks, intense debates have been ongoing about the 2025 Ballon d'Or. The award will be presented on September 22 and seems to be particularly contested between Ousmane Dembélé (28-year-old forward of Paris Saint-Germain and the French National Team) and Lamine Yamal (18-year-old forward of FC Barcelona and the Blues). Jules Koundé, a 26-year-old defender from Barça and the French selection, was invited to break the tie this Wednesday at a press conference.

Koundé "I'm not the one voting and there are arguments for both."

"I've already answered, I'll do it again. Both deserve it. They've had an extraordinary season, with trophies to show for it. Being a teammate of both, it's difficult. I'm not the one voting and there are arguments for both. I'm very happy to be with Lamine, to see how he carries us. Ousmane has reached a kind of fullness, he's playing his best football, with the statistics. May the best win.", comments relayed by RMC Sport.

It's very clear, Koundé doesn't want to offend anyone. He puts on a nice show here to compliment both players, and they deserve it, without seeming to favor one over the other. He himself points out, it was a difficult situation for him facing the press.

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Which is almost a shame, because a player could simply have an opinion without it causing a drama. After all, everyone can have preferences in football. But, as soon as we approach the Ballon d'Or everything takes on a crazy magnitude. All this for an individual trophy in a team sport.

Koundé doesn't have to vote and it's anyway closed. All that remains is to wait for the result, which will still spark debates for a while... until it's time to think about the 2026 Ballon d'Or. Great.

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