Harry Kane responds to Lamine Yamal after Ballon d'Or barb
The race for the prestigious prize is the most fierce in years, and the Barcelona star has kicked off his campaign with a thinly veiled jab
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Harry Kane says it is “not my personality” to publicly big himself up as much as some Ballon d’Or candidates have — but has made clear his desire to win the award.
The England captain is the favourite to win the Ballon d’Or next month after a season in which he scored 73 goals, a campaign only ever bettered once, and by one player, when Lionel Messi hit 82 in 2011-12.
Another contender for this year’s award, Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal, 19, appeared to criticise Kane’s candidacy when he insisted the Ballon d’Or should go to the world’s best player and not for “scoring 80 goals”.
Yamal says winning the award, run by France Football, would be a “dream”, while Real Madrid and France star Kylian Mbappe has also discussed his desire to win.
“Everyone is entitled to do what they want to do in that situation,” Kane said about how much some of his rivals for the award have spoken about it in recent weeks as the votes are made. Voting closes on Monday and the winner will be announced at next month’s ceremony, which this year takes place in London.
“Obviously the Ballon d'Or has become bigger and bigger over recent years, mainly because of social media, and all the noise, and all the conversations about it,” Kane said.
“From my point of view, it's just not my personality to talk about myself in that light. I'm still very proud of what I've done. And from a principle point of view, I know what I achieved last year was as good as anyone. So I don't want to shy away from that either. But ultimately, my mindset is to move on.
“I think the timing of the Ballon d'Or is tough, because you're already in a new season, you're already focused on what I can achieve this year. And after every game you're talking about what you've done last year.
“So it's hard for me to get my head around that. But from my point of view, it would be unbelievable to win it, I'd be extremely proud to win it.”
The Bayern striker continued: “I think I'm definitely in the running to win it, without a doubt. So time will tell, the voters will vote for who they want.
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“Whether [other contenders] doing more interviews or less interviews has an impact on that, it obviously has an impact socially, and on the debate around it, for sure.
“But the actual voters, I'm not 100 per cent sure. I think the voters will vote for who they think deserves it, and they'll have the information, the stats, and they'll decide.
“I think from my point of view, it makes me more proud when other people talk about me, when other team-mates or ex-players or whoever it is, people who compliment me on what I’ve achieved. I think that makes me more proud than me trying to talk about it myself.”
The last British player to win the Ballon d’Or was Michael Owen, 25 years ago back in 2001.