As the 2025 Ballon d’Or race nears its climax, the bookmakers have made one thing clear: Ousmane Dembele is the frontrunner. Yet whispers from within the Barcelona dressing room suggest another story—one in which Lamine Yamal could soon take soccer’s most prestigious individual prize. Even his teammate Robert Lewandowski seems to believe something special is brewing, though he refuses to give away the full plot in the opening act.
The Theatre du Chatelet in Paris will again serve as the stage for soccer’s brightest night on September 22, with this year’s ceremony missing the gravitational pull of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The absence of an international tournament this summer has shifted the focus entirely to club soccer, making performances in the 2024-25 season the deciding factor.
The bookmakers’ rankings show Dembele far ahead, followed by Yamal, Mohamed Salah, and Paris Saint-Germain duo Vitinha and Achraf Hakimi. Barcelona’s Pedri and Raphinha sit in the chasing pack, while Lewandowski and Kylian Mbappe‘s immense accomplishments are unlikely to be enough for a podium finish this time.
For Barcelona, the possibility of their first Ballon d’Or since Messi in 2021 is tantalizing—but it will require voters to choose the romantic rise of Yamal over the dominance of Dembele. Discussing his younger Spanish colleague in an interview with BBC, Lewandowski’s admiration was obvious: “It’s the first time in my life that I see that, after 50 minutes, a player had something so special. I didn’t believe it because I had never seen a footballer like that at that age. I thought that was impossible at 15 years old.”
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The cryptic seven words
When the topic turned to Yamal’s chances of winning the 2025 Ballon d’Or, Lewandowski delivered a comment that’s already sparking debate among fans: “Lamine’s season was incredible, but in the end, everything depends on the most important thing. He still has a lot of time—if not this year, maybe next year.”
Those seven words—“if not this year, maybe next year”—could be read as both cautious realism and a quiet prophecy. While Dembele’s treble-winning campaign with PSG makes him the overwhelming favorite, Lewandowski’s words hint that Yamal’s breakthrough might only be the opening chapter of a much longer reign.
The Polish striker also named Raphinha as another teammate with an outside shot at the award: “Raphinha also had a sensational year. We have players who could be favourites to win this award.”
