Harry Kane’s Ballon d’Or win has not been universally popular, with former Arsenal and Manchester City star Samir Nasri particularly underwhelmed by the triumph.
The Bayern Munich superstar and England captain won the prestigious award on Monday night in London, narrowly beating Kylian Mbappe and leaving Lamine Yamal in third place.
It is a superb achievement for the 33-year-old who did not look on course to be the best player on the planet during uneventful loan spells from Tottenham at Millwall, Leicester and Norwich.
Kane has managed it, though, thanks to his relentless goal-scoring for club and country, along with his almost unique take on his position, which sees him pop up all over the pitch, unlike other players who could deliver the number of goals he does.
Despite this, Nasri is not convinced, questioning Kane’s impact in the biggest games.
The Frenchman told Canal+: ‘Harry Kane, Ballon d’Or…okay, the statistics made the difference.
‘He’s a fantastic player with so many qualities. But he’s never been the player who carried his team somewhere or made his team win in the very big matches. There’s often a slight weakness. But he’s an extraordinary player.’
On whether he was excited by this year’s winner, Nasri said: ‘No, that’s an understatement.’
There were sour grapes on show elsewhere, with Yamal’s uncle Abdul interviewed, for some reason, and having a pop at the winner.
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‘Very sad, my nephew is the best player in the world, everyone knows it,’ he told El Larguero, via AS. ‘If you like football, you go to see Lamine, not Harry Kane. Kane is a great goal-scorer, but Lamine shines on the pitch.
‘Since Lamine is young, he has time, and that’s why they’re not giving him the opportunity. Kane, with only three days of football left, has been given the opportunity. I’m sure Lamine will end up winning 5. In three days, Lamine’s sadness will be over.’
Former Real Madrid star Guti also questioned why Kane got the nod, saying the players finishing second and third were more deserving.
‘It’s quite a coincidence that they’re taking the 70th anniversary Ballon d’Or to London and that someone from London wins it,’ Guti said on El Chiringuito.
‘Lamine and Mbappé deserve it more. You only have to see Kane’s face when they call his name. He never would have imagined winning the Ballon d’Or.’
Kane is the fifth English player to claim the prize after Stanley Matthews, Bobby Charlton, Kevin Keegan (twice) and Michael Owen.
‘I had to go through many ups and downs, especially early in my career. I was never the person that people thought was going to be the superstar like some of the guys now,’ he told DAZN.
‘I had to bide my time and work hard, a lot of times it was me against my own mind and I had to come through it, I had to show self-belief, determination.
‘I think that grounded me even when I did make it at the highest level to keep improving and keep getting better.’
Last season he scored 73 goals in 65 games for club and country.
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