Former Real Madrid defender backs Barcelona rising star to win the Ballon d’Or | OneFootball

After spending six years at Villarreal, veteran defender Raul Albiol is all set to leave the club this summer.

Aged 39, the ex-Real Madrid star has made countless appearances in La Liga over the years and has witnessed the rise and fall of some of the best footballers on the planet, including the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Over the past year or so, Albiol has been a close observer of Barcelona’s latest sensation, Lamine Yamal. And it appears the defender is convinced the youngster should win this year’s Ballon d’Or title.

Raul Albiol backs Yamal to win the Ballon d’Or

In a recent interaction with El Chiringuito’s Josep Pedrerol, former Real Madrid defender Raul Albiol heavily vouched for Yamal to become the next Ballon d’Or winner, stating, “The Ballon d’Or should go to Lamine.”

Even when posed with hypotheticals, such as Ousmane Dembele winning the Club World Cup or Kylian Mbappe being named the best player while Real Madrid wins it all, Albiol’s answer remained the same: “Lamine.”

The iconic defender’s admiration is not without reason, as Yamal has indeed been one of the best players in Europe over the past 12 months.

Yamal notably won the UEFA Euro with Spain and guided Barcelona to a domestic treble, lifting La Liga and the Copa del Rey under Hansi Flick as well as the Spanish Super Cup.

Unfortunately, Yamal missed out on the Champions League as Barcelona lost to Inter Milan narrowly in the semifinals.

It is because of Yamal’s UCL exit that many are favouring Dembele to win the grand prize, especially given how the Frenchman has led the triumphant PSG side this season.

Raul Albiol, though, remains upbeat about Yamal’s chances of winning the coveted prize.