Marcus Rashford has shared his thoughts on the 2025 Ballon d'Or as he spoke glowingly about one of the main contenders for the award.
This year's Ballon d'Or ceremony takes place in September, with several high-profile players in the mix for the prestigious individual prize.
Lamine Yamal and Ousmane Dembele are among the candidates to win the 2025 Ballon d'Or following their stellar performances for Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain respectively,
Yamal, who shone at last summer's Euros, has produced the goods for Barca, scoring 18 club goals across all competitions last season.
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As for Dembele, he helped his side win four trophies last season and weighed in with an impressive 35 goals.
When discussing who should win the award, Rashford was unable to split them, arguing a case for both star forwards.
But he reserved special praise for teenage sensation Yamal, hailing his mentality at such a young age.
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"It’s difficult to put into words what he is doing because he’s not supposed to be doing that at 16, 17," the Manchester United outcast told YouTube channel XBuyer.
"He is playing at 17 at the highest level, I don’t think we have seen it.
"To have this mentality is a skill. It is not normal to be able to do what he does, not only now because he will keep improving. In three years’ time we don’t know what we are going to say about him."
Asked to pick between Yamal and Dembele for the Ballon d'Or, he replied: "If you look at it just from football ability I think he [Yamal] has to win, but then if you look at Dembele with the Champions League win... it depends how you see it.
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"I wouldn’t be disappointed whichever of them won."
Who is favourite to win the 2025 Ballon d'Or?
Rashford can't pick a winner between Yamal and Dembele, but bookmakers are backing the PSG superstar to win the Ballon d'Or.
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He strengthened his argument following his side's Champions League triumph last season.
Dembele is priced at 1/8 to win the Ballon d'Or ahead of Yamal, who has odds of 11/2.
Topics: Marcus Rashford, Manchester United, Football, Lamine Yamal, Ousmane Dembele
Nasir Jabbar