Alan Shearer believes Harry Kane’s remarkable goal record should earn him this year’s Ballon d’Or ahead of Barcelona forward Lamine Yamal. The former England striker said on The Rest Is Football podcast: “It should be Harry all day. His numbers are insane.”
Kane’s record-breaking season
Kane scored 73 goals for club and country last season, helping Bayern Munich secure a league and cup double and captaining England to their best World Cup finish since 1966. The 33-year-old has never finished higher than tenth in the individual award but is considered one of the clear favourites for this year’s ceremony, which takes place in London later in October.
This season, Kane has already scored six goals in seven matches for Bayern and added six more in England’s four games during the recent international break.
Yamal’s challenge
Kane’s main rival is teenage sensation Yamal, who followed Barcelona’s domestic double by helping Spain win their second World Cup this summer. Yamal recorded 42 goal involvements in 45 matches for Barcelona last season and became the first teenager to win both the European Championships and the World Cup. If victorious, he would overtake Ronaldo Nazario as the youngest Ballon d’Or winner ever.
Gary Lineker expressed hope that the judging panel rewards Kane’s exploits. “Harry Kane’s had an incredible year,” Lineker said. “He won the double with Bayern Munich, obviously. Lamine Yamal, though, won the double with Barcelona and a World Cup to boot. Although he probably wasn’t his absolute best in the World Cup, but he still had some great moments. Winning the World Cup might make a difference. I’d love to see Harry get it. I mean, he’s coming to, not towards the end of his career, because he still seems to be banging in more goals than ever. He’s pretty much double the age of Lamine Yamal. So I’d love to see him get it. Lamine Yamal is going to win a few of them, but I don’t think that’s how they think.”
Richards weighs in
Micah Richards also backed Kane, while noting the difficulty of the decision. “It’s a difficult one because Olise was probably the best player, wasn’t he, in the Bundesliga last year, although Harry scored a lot of goals as well,” Richards said. “But then Mbappe was amazing, even in the World Cup. But then he didn’t win anything, he didn’t win the league with Real Madrid or the Champions League, did he? So obviously Mbappé is probably not going to get it. Then Lamine, you mentioned he’s been outstanding, but he was going into the World Cup with an injury. He had great moments, but he wasn’t on fire the whole tournament. So I think this year it’s actually quite difficult, I would say. It’s a tight one. It is a tight one. But for Harry Kane, like you said, because he’s an Englishman. Yeah, I’d go with Harry Kane this year.”
William Hill lists Kane and Yamal as joint favourites at 5/6, with Kylian Mbappe at 16/1, Lionel Messi at 22/1 and Rodri at 33/1.
