It is hardly ever a surprise to hear that a new promising talent has managed to emerge from the FC Barcelona academy. After all, La Masia remains the best footballing academy in the world and for good reason. Over the years, Barcelona have seen many special talents come and go, but there is something special about this latest batch.
In particular, 17-year-old Lamine Yamal is the player who is so effortlessly exceeding all expectations and ceilings. The Barcelona superstar continues to showcase his talents on the biggest stages and has cemented himself as a player to watch.
Recently, he even picked up the Kopa Trophy at France Football’s 2024 Ballon d’Or ceremony, an award that is handed out to the most outstanding Under-21 player of the last year. Lamine Yamal won it in dominant fashion given that he was always the clear favorite, but there is something interesting to note about the votes.
For this particular award, there are no journalists or other individuals involved, it is instead voted on by former winners of the Ballon d’Or who choose their top three for the award in a particular order and the points are assigned towards that player accordingly and then the result is decided following the accumulation of those points.
In this year’s case, Yamal won the award with an astonishing 113 points, and second-placed Arda Guler had 26 points to his name. Moreover, every single Ballon d’Or winner who participated in the voting process voted for Lamine Yamal as their first ranked player on their list of three except for only one.
That particular former Ballon d’Or winner, as highlighted by Mundo Deportivo, was none other than Brazilian icon Ronaldo Nazario. In his voting, he placed Yamal on second and instead put former Girona and current Manchester City winger Savinho as his first choice for the award.
A rather unusual pick, despite the fact that Savinho himself was quite brilliant for Girona last season without a doubt. However, given that the winger is Brazilian it perhaps makes sense that ‘R9’, who won the Ballon d’Or both in 1998 and 2002, would have liked to see one of his compatriots have a chance at the award.
As for Yamal himself, one singular vote barely put a dent on his chances to win the award either way. Ultimately, he is the sole winner of the Kopa Trophy and many expect him to pick up the Golden Boy award as well once the winner is announced.
