Barcelona president praises La Masia gem at Ballon d’Or Gala – “Great player” | OneFootball

The Ballon d’Or countdown is here and France Football have already begun slowly unravelling the mystery as to who will be crowned the best player in the world this year.

Ahead of tonight, Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr was the standout favourite to bag the accolade with many even calling it a no-competition.

However, a lot changed in the hours building up to the ceremony with sudden reports stating that the Brazilian would not be winning the award. Manchester City’s Rodri was instead replaced as the favourite.

News of the winger’s snubbing did not go down well in Madrid with Los Blancos cancelling their trip to Paris. Barcelona, however, are already in the French capital with nominated players to sportingly attend the ceremony.

Laporta speaks to the media

Speaking to L’Equipe at the Ballon d’Or Gala in Paris, Barcelona president Joan Laporta was asked about his take on who would win the Ballon d’Or especially given the new controversy brewing.

“I am confident that the winner will be the one who deserves to win. For me, there is a great player we have in our team, Lamine Yamal,” he said.

Laporta was full of praise for Yamal. (Photo by Eric Alonso/Getty Images)

The journalist then asked him if the teenager was too young for the accolade already, to which he replied, “Young, but very good.”

Finally, the club president was quizzed on the atmosphere for the night and the overall celebratory mood in his camp, to which he said,

“Tonight we are very excited because we are very happy to have our player, our player, here. There will be a big party tonight.”

While Yamal is not expected to have a podium finish in the Ballon d’Or race, he is the overwhelming favourite to take home the Kopa Trophy given to the best young player of the previous season.

After all, he enjoyed a stunning campaign last season, winning the Euros with Spain and breaking several records with his stunning performances for Barcelona.

Also nominated for the award is Pau Cubarsi while Dani Olmo finished 13th in the Ballon d’Or rankings.