Although there were 9 of the 30 nominated for the Ballon d’Or (10 with Ferran Torres arriving this summer), PSG did not have much chance of retaining the title acquired by Ousmane Dembélé for this year. The defending champion was undoubtedly the best card to play, but as the weeks went by, we felt that the gap was widening with the other favorites, starting with Lamine Yamal, Harry Kane, the future winner, Kylian Mbappé and Rodi. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Fabian Ruiz were also in a good position, each with arguments to make without becoming essential.
PSG could legitimately fear a dispersion of votes for its players. Initially, he decided to put the Spanish midfielder in the second row to leave light only to the French and the Georgian. The idea was to rank them according to future performances before the vote except that they did not really stand out and we had to face the truth. Neither was going to win it this year. The choice was therefore not to choose and instead to highlight the collective, according to information from the Parisian. The double European champion also won the title of club of the year for the second time in a row.
PSG chose not to choose
By choosing to stop its campaign for both, PSG preferred the tranquility of its locker room by not offending anyone. At best, Dembélé (7th) or Kvara (6th) would have recovered two or three places better, insufficient to win the precious cup. Enough to attract criticism from Vincent Garcia, the editor-in-chief of France Footballorganizer of the trophy and the evening, who found that “PSG’s communication may not have been very clear in trying to promote three players, then two“, while “they should have rolled for a player“, in this case, “the title holder, Ousmane Dembélé.»
The capital club assumes this choice, the proof on all stages of the rocket. Dembélé was present in London because he was injured, but at the same time there was the clash against OL at the Parc des Princes. Nasser Al-Khelaïfi chose Ligue 1 rather than the oils of the ceremony. He joins his coach, Luis Enrique, who has always proclaimed his disinterest in individual trophies. For him, it’s more of a locker room puzzle to resolve. Bayern Munich, for example, highlighted Harry Kane rather than Michael Olise, both present in the English capital unlike Jude Bellingham, totally eclipsed by Real Madrid and the choice to put Kylian Mbappé forward.
