The latest edition of the Ballon d’Or ceremony was a rather special one for FC Barcelona over in Paris, France. As it typically is, this ceremony was also heavily dominated by nominees and representatives from La Blaugrana being present. However, Barcelona ended up doing much more than simply adhering to formalities and being present for the sake of the ceremony.
Most of the awards were swept up by the women’s team of the Catalan club, as Aitana Bonmatí won the women’s Ballon d’Or and the club won the award for the best women’s team of the year as well. However, 17-year-old Lamine Yamal was also present and he ended up winning the Kopa Trophy.
Yet, it seems that the young Barcelona prodigy has his sights set much higher than simply stopping with the Kopa Trophy. Instead, he keeps his eyes on the Ballon d’Or itself, an award that anyone else pursuing at the age of 17 would be considered as lunacy, but not in Yamal’s case.
Speaking to Movistar+, as highlighted by SPORT, Yamal admitted that the Ballon d’Or is something that he has thought about winning and is a dream of his:
“Every kid dreams of it… I hope I can win the Ballon d’Or as soon as possible; it’s something I have in mind.”
The Barcelona prodigy also spoke about Rodri winning the latest edition of the award and responded in a classy way to the Manchester City star’s compliment, suggesting he could win the Ballon d’Or:
“I’m very happy for Rodri, an amazing player and an incredible person. For the best player in the world to put some pressure on you and say you’ll win it too is really something… I’m young, and it would be a dream to win the Ballon d’Or. I hope it happens soon.”
As for Barcelona itself, the 17-year-old winger assures everyone that the team has high aspirations as a collective unit as well this season: “We’re going for more—the League, the Champions League, the Cup, and everything we can.”
Already the youngest-ever winner of the Kopa Trophy, Lamine Yamal seems destined for even more greatness. The next challenge for him now would be to aim for the main award itself, but it remains to be seen just how long it ends up taking him to accomplish that dream of his.