Former Real Madrid defender, Sergio Ramos, is backing Kylian Mbappé to win this year’s Ballon d’Or, despite the Frenchman not winning many major team trophies in the 2024-2025 season.
Ramos, who now plays for Mexican side Monterrey, said during a press conference on Monday that Mbappé deserves the prestigious individual honour after a stunning debut season at Real Madrid.
Recall that Ramos and Mbappe spent two seasons together at PSG between 2021 and 2023.
In his first campaign at the Santiago Bernabéu, Mbappé won the Spanish Super Cup and the Intercontinental Cup. More impressively, he netted a record-breaking 43 goals in 56 matches, the highest in Europe, earning him the coveted European Golden Shoe.
Despite that, Ousmane Dembélé, who won the UEFA Champions League and Ligue 1 with PSG, Lamine Yamal, who won the Spanish La Liga with Barcelona, and Mohamed Salah, who won the Premier League title with Liverpool, are rated higher than Mbappe in the Ballon d’Or power ranking.
“I would always give it to Mbappé,” Ramos said. “It’s a decisive trophy, but you never know what the criteria are for the Ballon d’Or. He scored goals and won the Golden Boot, even though Madrid hasn’t won other titles that other teams have won. These are individual awards, not collective ones.”
The 38-year-old veteran defender further predicted a bright future for his former teammate, suggesting Mbappé could dominate the Ballon d’Or stage for years to come.
“If it were up to me, I think Kylian would have the peace of mind of taking home four or five Ballons d’Or in five or 10 years,” Ramos added. “He has the talent, even if Madrid didn’t have a year full of titles, he had a great season and showed that he was a player of this level.”
Mbappé, now 26, joined Real Madrid in a highly anticipated move this season and has quickly become the focal point of the club’s attack, living up to the massive expectations placed on him.
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