PSG first team manager, Luis Enrique, has today given his tuppence on who he believes should be named the Ballon D'or winner for the 2025/26 season.
On October the 26th, in the English capital of London, the Ballon D'or winner for the 26/27 season will be confirmed, with a number of PSG players hoping they will be the ones to win it.
As we know, Ousmane Dembele is the current holder of the Ballon D'or, after being presented with the award last September at home in Paris, having won the treble in the 24/25 season.
Although the team could not win the treble last time out, Ligue 1 and the UEFA Champions League campaign were retained, so Dembele, as well as the likes of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia will be hoping they can win.
However, there are plenty of other solid candidates, including Bayern Munich and England forward Harry Kane, whom scored 73 goals last season, a number that has only been bettered by Lionel Messi in the 21st century, not even Cristiano Ronaldo.
There is also former PSG forward, Kylian Mbappe, who was the top scorer in La Liga and at this summer's FIFA World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico, so he will believe he has a case.
Well, PSG manager Luis Enrique has weighed in on the debate, when asked earlier on today (Thursday, the 3rd of September), via PSG_Report, saying: “I’m not interested in the Ballon d’Or but for me it should be a PSG player who wins it this year.
#We have everything in the team, we’ve won the Champions League, Fabian [Ruiz] won the World Cup too, we have Ousmane Dembélé who won it last year.
So clearly for me, [the winner of the] Ballon d’Or should be a PSG player, but I could be wrong. But again it’s not the most important thing, because football is a team sport. We need to stay focused on the team."
Fair play, it is good that Enrique appreciates the important thing is the collective. As long as the team keep winning the big prizes, you know that a number of the players will be under consideration for the Ballon D'or.
As it stands, Kvaratskhelia is the fifth favourite to win the award, at 7/1, whilst Dembele and Ruiz are neck and neck as 10th favourite, at 22/1. Desire Doue is the 15th favourite at 50/1, and Joao Neves 17th favourite at 66/1. The current favourite is Kane, at 4/7.
Let's wait and see. But, as Enrique said, the most important thing is the team. That is the focus at the moment, and turning around this difficult start to the season.
