Real Madrid Manager Jose Mourinho Speaks on Harry Kane Winning Ballon d'Or

Back on Monday, Bayern Munich and England national team forward Harry Kane beat Real Madrid and France star Kylian Mbappe to the Ballon d’Or, with there being fewer than 30 votes in it.

Although people of Los Blancos persuasion would have loved to see a current player win the award for the first time since Karim Benzema in 2022, there is a general acceptance that the Englishman was a worthy winner.

Well, one person who shares that point of view is current Real Madrid manager, Jose Mourinho, who (via iMiaSanMia) was asked about Kane winning the Ballon d’Or, responding: “I had the privilege of working with Harry Kane, he is a wonderful player, an exceptional professional and a wonderful person.

And of course, despite my feeling of frustration that my player did not win the award, I must be honest and say that I am very happy for Harry, because he is a player and a person who deserves this joy at his age. He deserves this happy moment, which represents a crowning of his career.”

You know what? Listen, fair play to Mourinho there. A very diplomatic response. He made it clear that he was backing Mbappe to pick up the much coveted award, but gave Kane his plaudits at the same time. Ever the consummate professional is the boss.

As you may know, the two worked together at Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League between November 2019 and April 2021, so just under 18 months working together, and it is clear that the striker enjoyed that period of his career.

People may recollect a conversation that Mourinho and Kane had together — picked up by the cameras from their Amazon documentary in the 19/20 season — where the England international said he wanted to reach Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo levels, with the gaffer saying he can help with that.

Whilst it would be a stretch to say he has reached their level, he is now a fellow Ballon d’Or winner, and it is clear that Mourinho played no small part in his development along the way to that.

Let’s hope that he can refine Mbappe’s game in a similar way. So far this season, the Frenchman is having a very good season, with 11 goals in La Liga, including a brace to win El Clasico, as well as three goals in the UEFA Champions League. But crucially, he is looking more and more like a nominal number nine. The aforementioned Clasico brace were two very "centre forward" goals.