Arsenal and Barcelona legend Thierry Henry has given his verdict on the Ballon d’Or race, tipping Barcelona forward Raphinha ahead of Mohamed Salah.
Both Salah and Raphinha have been immense this term for their clubs.
Undeniably, the Egyptian and the Brazilian have been the front runners for football’s most prestigious award due to their stellar performances.
With 54 goal involvements (32 goals, 22 assists) for Liverpool and 46 goal involvements for Barcelona (27 goals, 19 assists) Salah and Raphinha have been the main men for their respective clubs.
Despite Kane scoring 32 goals and providing 11 assists, coupled with Ousmane Dembele’s incredulous 21 goals in 2025, Henry is convinced of Salah and Raphinha’s chances.
The Brazilian winger’s goals have cut across all competitions, scoring the most goals in the Champions League (11) as well.
On Tuesday night, once again, Raphinha was in full flight as Barcelona qualified to the quarter finals while Salah failed to impact Liverpool’s game with PSG.
Reflecting on and analysing their performances in the context of the ballon d’Or, Henry told CBS Sport:
“Raphinha is ahead for me now, he is ahead because of what he is doing in the Champions League. He has 11 goals in the Champions League. Mo Salah is a great contender for it, Kane is a contender and [Ousmane] Dembele. It depends if you perform in the Champions League, on top of winning your league. Raphinha is on a lot of goals and with only one penalty.
Henry further clarified his decision to go with Raphinha over Salah and Kane.
“I am not saying that Kane and Salah should not be having penalties. Mo Salah is having a season in the Premier League that we will never see again. I am saying that if a guy has virtually the same amount of goals as you guys scored, without penalties, I am not going to say that is bad what you did – it is outstanding – but this guy I have to talk a bit more about him. Raphinha, when people talk about being complete as a striker, you need to know about putting on pressure, defending, and helping your full-back. And he has it all,” he added.
Source:
3news.com
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