Yamal is the most deserving
Pascal Ferré, the former editor-in-chief of "France Football" and the man once in charge of the Ballon d'Or, has taken aim at Kylian Mbappé. The former France international, he argues, does not deserve the award this year because his season brought no collective silverware, with the winner set to be announced in London on 26 October.
Ferré cast doubt on Mbappé's claim in comments carried by French newspaper "Ouest-France" and "Radio Monte Carlo". Individual numbers alone, he insists, cannot settle the contest, and winning major tournaments must remain a core criterion in picking the best player in the world.
The World Cup and the Champions League are the two competitions that matter most when judging the candidates, according to Ferré. A player who has won neither leaves him with a sense of something missing, even if the goals keep flowing.
His criticism went beyond Mbappé's record. Ferré also rounded on the forward's media campaign to push his own case, after Mbappé talked up his entitlement to the award in several interviews, leaning on his goal tally and his title as the World Cup's top scorer.
Speaking to "Radio Monte Carlo", Ferré called the approach an unfamiliar precedent. Open self-promotion from a candidate struck him as strange, and he had spoken to several members of the voting panel who were unhappy at how often these statements were being repeated.
Believing you can sway the voters through a string of interviews, he added, is a serious misjudgement, a nod to the journalists casting votes from countries all over the world.
Ferré ended by naming his own pick. He threw his weight behind Spain's Lamine Yamal, insisting the Barcelona star's technical gifts and his trophy haul make him an exceptional player worthy of fighting for the prize.