Barcelona coach Hansi Flick backed Lamine Yamal’s claim that he deserves to win the Ballon d’Or and dismissed concerns about the teenager’s ego.
Yamal, 19, said earlier this week that he and Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappé are the best players in the world, but it’s him that deserves to win the Ballon d’Or this year.
The coveted individual prize will be awarded at a ceremony in London on Oct. 26, with Bayern Munich‘s Harry Kane and Paris Saint-Germain’s Ousmane Dembélé among the other contenders in an extremely open field.
“He’s honest, he has the self-confidence,” Flick said ahead of Wednesday’s LaLiga game against Racing Santander when asked about Yamal’s remarks.
“He has shown this season how good he is. He’s exceptional. His opinion is that he deserves it and I think also he deserves it: two titles [LaLiga and the Spanish Supercopa] with us, the World Cup with the Spanish national team, why not?
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“It’s the same self confidence he has on the pitch. Whether it’s 1v1 or 1v2 or 1v3, everyone in the stadium is like ‘Wow.’ This is Lamine. I will support him. It is amazing to have a player like him.
“Why should we not [campaign for him to win the Ballon d’Or]? It’s normal. It’s our player. We support our player.”
Flick warned his players last season “egos kill success” and he has always placed the team ahead of any individual during his two years in charge of Barça.
“I hope not,” he added when questioned on whether Yamal’s push to win the Ballon d’Or could become a distraction.
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“We are focused on what we can change, what is in our hands, which is to work hard every day. If you win titles for the team — because for me it is most important to win with the team — then you deserve it because you worked hard.
“Lamine is an exceptional player. I know there are a lot of world class players on the list, so it is not easy, but they will decide [who wins] … and I will be really happy when it’s finished.”
Supporting Yamal’s claim is his start to the new campaign, with the winger showing a marked improvement in front of goal with seven goals in six appearances already.
“He has a huge quality and a fitness level now, it’s really good,” Flick said.
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“Now he knows when he has the right position, he can score. In the game you can see it. If the ball is on left, if he’s more inside, near the goal, he has more opportunities to score goals.
“But what he does with the ball, his finishing, it’s spectacular. At the moment he’s playing on a great level. He can always score goals in every game, in every situation.”
Barça will look to make it six wins from six in LaLiga when they host newly-promoted Racing Santander at Spotify Camp Nou this week.
Flick is expected to make changes with Gavi and Alejandro Balde among the players pushing for minutes having hardly featured this season. Gavi has made just two appearances, while Balde is yet to feature at all.
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“Gavi’s ambition is huge,” Flick said. “He always wants to play. He started the first game at Elche and he was injured. He came back and the team is doing well and you have to accept this, but we need everyone.
“[With Balde], we have João [Cancelo at left-back] and no one expected that Xavi Espart would play on this level, so it’s about that.
“Balde has to give his best and he does it in training. Of course he’s not happy, this is normal, he’s not playing, no minutes. But it’s not that I am unhappy with him.”
