In the long shadow of Paris and Madrid, the Ballon d’Or debate has drawn a sharp response from Jean-Pierre Papin, the 1991 winner who believes Kylian Mbappe has gone too far in publicly advancing his own case for football’s individual prize.
Key takeaways
- Jean-Pierre Papin, 62, said Mbappe’s public pursuit of the Ballon d’Or has become overly focused on himself.
- The former France striker argued that a player cannot simply declare himself deserving of the award, which is decided by others.
- Papin rejected fair play as a decisive argument in Mbappe’s favour under the Ballon d’Or voting criteria.
- He highlighted Harry Kane’s 73-goal year, Golden Boot and strong World Cup as reasons to admire the England captain’s candidacy.
Papin questions Mbappe’s approach
Papin said he remains a great admirer of the Real Madrid forward, describing Mbappe as a player of records. Yet he felt the tone of the France captain’s campaign had crossed a line.
“I like Kylian very much, but there comes a point where it is all ‘me, me, me’,” Papin said. “You cannot say that winning the Ballon d’Or is what you want. It is an award decided by other people.”
The former AC Milan and Marseille forward was particularly unimpressed by Mbappe’s assertion that nobody else deserved the trophy more. For Papin, that declaration was “too much”.
Kane earns Papin’s admiration
Mbappe has pointed to fair play among the elements supporting his case, but Papin does not consider that sufficient. He noted that the Ballon d’Or is assessed through several criteria and said that particular factor did not apply in the Real Madrid player’s favour, even if other parts of his record did.
Instead, Papin reserved warm praise for Harry Kane. The England striker, he said, had produced an exceptional campaign after scoring 73 goals across the year, winning the Golden Boot and delivering an impressive World Cup.
Papin also valued Kane’s manner away from the pitch. “He communicates with real class and never says the wrong thing,” he said. “He is simply there for football, and he is a pleasure to watch.”
