Raul Asencio Backs Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe to Win Ballon d'Or

Later this month, in the English capital of London, the ceremony for the 25/26 Ballon d'Or will take place, with Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappe amongst the list of nominees hoping to win the award. 

He is not the only Los Blancos player to be nominated for the award - with Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Jr and Marc Cucurella (albeit for his body of work with Chelsea and the Spain national team) are also among the 30 nominees, but it feels like Mbappe is the one Real Madrid player with a genuine, tangible chance of being the winner. But let's see. 

A lot of players have had a lot to say in recent weeks, including Mbappe himself, as well as fellow nominee Lamine Yamal. Then, there have been a lot of other players backing their team mates to win the much coveted award.

Well, one more player to do is Real Madrid central defender Raul Asencio, whom is currently sidelined having undergone surgery. In a recent interview with Diario AS, he was asked about Mbappe potentially winning the award. 

To which, he responded: "It would be fair. Kylian is the best player from all (of) the nominees. He's the top scorer in every competition. It's an individual award." 

Fair play. Can't argue too much with what he has said. Whatever your thoughts are on Mbappe, he was the top scorer in La Liga, the UEFA Champions League and the FIFA World Cup. And it is meant to be about the best individual, not the player who has benefitted most of collective success. 

However, one of the official Ballon d'Or criteria is team achievement too, so it would feel surprising if a player without a single team trophy would win the award. But, as always in football, you never know. And there is certainly no leak suggesting another player will definitely win the award at this current moment in time. 

As it stands, Mbappe is the current third favourite with the bookmakers to win the award, behind the aforementioned Yamal, who is the favourite, and Harry Kane of Bayern Munich and the England national team. The 27-year old is currently priced at odds of 12/1 to win the award. Bellingham is 22/1, Vinicius is 80/1, and Cucurella is 100/1. 

Let's see what happens. The winner will be officially confirmed on Monday, the 26th of October, one day after the first Clasico of the season in Barcelona.