Former Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski has been chatting about the Ballon d’Or ahead of Monday’s ceremony which will crown the world’s best player for 2026.
Lamine Yamal and Harry Kane are seen as the two big favorites currently, and Lewandowski is rooting for the Barcelona youngster.
“Of course, I push my finger for Lamine to win the Ballon d’Or, because he’s amazing, especially for his age, but still, if you compare now to the previous time, it’s a little bit different,” he told The Athletic.
Lewandowski, who famously missed out on the prize in 2020 due to Covid, also spoke about Kane’s influence at Bayern.
“He came to Bayern in his prime and what he’s doing is amazing, how many goals he’s scoring, and especially that Bayern missed this kind of striker after I left,” he added.
“And with him they’re doing a really good job and Olise for me is like: ‘Wow.’ He’s the game-changer player. And I think this work and cooperation between Kane, Olise and Díaz is like a perfect match.
“And how they played last season, I think the only thing that was missing for Bayern was the Champions League trophy. And if they won the Champions League last year, that probably would be (seen) the same as the year we had in 2020, that we won everything, because they played amazing.”
Lewandowski admitted that Michael Olise is a player who really loves to watch, alongside Yamal.
“Lamine and Olise, as wingers, are like the players who have the most power on the team, beside Harry Kane as a striker, as well,” he said.
“But I am impressed that Olise is this kind of player. He has a huge future. I know that everyone is talking about Lamine, but I try to find sometimes the different players and see something, sometimes that not everyone sees yet. For me also, probably if (Olise) scored one or two goals in the World Cup, he would be the favorite also to win the Ballon d’Or, with Lamine or with Harry Kane, also.
“His decisions are perfect. He knows timing, he know when he should shoot to score a goal, he knows when to play the pass, what kind of pass. I love to watch Lamine, but also Olise. To watch how they play.”