Lamine Yamal, Ousmane Dembélé Get Strong Ballon d’Or Take From Real Madrid Icon

Dembélé’s only serious threat to winning the Ballon d’Or was Barcelona star Lamine Yamal. While the teenager had his backers, it would be the Frenchman who would win.

Nonetheless, this decision from the football journalist is seen as the right one from the perspective of former Real Madrid player Karim Benzema.

“He has overcome very difficult moments,“ Benzema said in an interview with Sport. “He’s a good person and, on top of that, a phenomenon; a great player. What he has done at PSG is exceptional. He won the Ballon d’Or thanks to his many goals, and he scored them at decisive moments. He fully deserved his Ballon d’Or.”

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Moreover, Samuel Umtiti played alongside the PSG star at Barcelona before their paths split in 2023. For the former Catalan defender, the Ballon d’Or was always destined for Dembélé.

“I was aware of [Dembélé’s] qualities,“ Umtiti said (h/t Le10Sport). “And back then, he really wasn’t mature enough (laughs) given the potential he had. Sometimes, he acted like he was at the City Stadium and didn’t realize he was playing at Barcelona.

“He was natural, carefree, and unaware. He became conscious of these things under Luis Enrique, gained maturity as well, but the Ballon d’Or is well deserved given the qualities he had.”