Former Premier League manager Felix Magath has named Marc Cucurella as his winner of the Ballon d'Or, a surprise pick for the prestigious award that will be handed out in London on Monday night.
Harry Kane is the favourite to scoop the prize for the first time after spearheading Bayern Munich's continued domestic dominance, though he fell at the semi-final hurdle in both the Champions League and the World Cup. PSG's success at club level and Spain's win on the global stage give their players a potential shot at glory, with Lamine Yamal and Ousmane Dembele also in the mix.
Magath's surprise selection
Magath, who led Bayern to Bundesliga titles but also presided over Fulham's relegation in 2014, has picked Cucurella, the Real Madrid right-back, as his winner. He explained in Bild: "He is world-class as a left-back, always there, strong at covering ground and loses hardly any duels. He shuts down his side and also gets forward. He played a big part in Spain's World Cup title."
Magath had Rodri in second and Fabian Ruiz, the only player to win the World Cup and the Champions League, in third. Despite claiming the World Cup, almost no one has tipped the former Chelsea defender to win the Golden Ball, and no defender has claimed the prize since Fabio Cannavaro in 2006.
Kane overlooked in German media picks
Magath's tip came from within German media, where five pundits and ex-players were asked to name their top three. Magath was the only man to overlook Kane, not even putting him in the top three, despite him scoring 61 times last season.
Oliver Kahn, Michael Ballack, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Christoph Kramer all had the Bayern man as the winner, with all of them placing Yamal in second, which would make it successive years as the Ballon d'Or runner-up for the Barcelona star.
Kylian Mbappe, Michael Olise and Lionel Messi featured as the picks for third spot. Mbappe became the World Cup's all-time leading scorer in the summer, whilst Olise, despite playing alongside Kane, was named the Footballer of the Year in Germany. Messi was denied the perfect ending to his time with Argentina, losing in the World Cup final as the South Americans narrowly missed out on back-to-back triumphs.
