Barcelona Legend Snubs Lamine Yamal With 2025 Ballon d’Or Pick

Barcelona legend Sergio Busquets did not give his backing to Lamine Yamal when asked to pick his favorite for the 2025 Ballon d’Or.

Off the back of inspirational performances that underpinned Spain’s Euro 2024 triumph last summer, Yamal enjoyed an incredible 2024–25 club season in which a dominant Barça won the domestic treble.

Although Busquets suggested that Yamal and Raphinha “deserve it” too, the 37-year-old said he hopes another former Barcelona teammate will be named 2025’s best player in the world.

“I hope Ousmane Dembélé will win the 2025 Ballon d’Or,” Busquets told reporters.

“We know what kind of player he is, the difference he makes and what he can do. Of course, I also have teammates at Barcelona who deserve it, but I don’t know how the voters will decide and what the decisive factor will be.”

Yamal’s initial breakthrough at the age of 15 came during Busquets’ final two months as a Barcelona player in 2023, while Raphinha was a colleague for one season after a 2022 transfer from Leeds United. The veteran midfielder also played alongside Dembélé for six years.

Ousmane Dembélé led PSG to a historic season. | Xavier Laine/Getty Images

Dembélé ultimately struggled to repay the faith that Barcelona showed in him, agreeing to a club record €145 million ($169.1 million) transfer in 2017 after a breakout year at Borussia Dortmund. Tasked with replacing Neymar, the Frenchman struggled with injuries and lacked professionalism.

Ironically, Dembélé wound up replacing Neymar again when he traded Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain in 2023, moving for a fraction of his previous fee. His first season back in France since he was a teenager with Rennes underwhelmed. But the penny dropped and Dembélé had a career year in 2024–25, taking on a new No. 9 role, racking up 51 goals and assists, and playing a pivotal role in winning Ligue 1, Coupe de France and, most importantly, the Champions League.

It was revealed by BBC Sport columnist and Barcelona expert Guillem Balagué in early 2025 that the secret behind Dembélé’s sudden rebirth a decade into his career was basically him growing up. Gone was the reckless youngster who was often late to Barcelona training due to late-night gaming sessions, and he is said to have started changing for the better—maturing—after marrying his girlfriend at a low-key ceremony in 2021, with a first child following within a year.

After PSG’s various triumphs last season exceeded Barcelona’s, Dembélé is the overall favorite to win the 2025 Ballon d’Or when the annual ceremony takes place in Paris on Sep. 22.