Manchester United legend Dwight Yorke believes Kylian Mbappe is ahead of Jude Bellingham in the Ballon d’Or race.
The Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid stars are two of the heavy favourites to win the coveted award after the dominant era of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo ended with the Argentina star winning his eighth trophy in 2023.
Read our other sports news stories here:
Declan Rice stands by decision to reject Man City for ‘more exciting’ Arsenal move
I’m ready’ – Man City star Haaland sends title warning to Arsenal
T20 World Cup: Archer and Jordan included in preliminary England squad
Both players now feature outside of Europe, opening the door for new faces to write their names in the history books alongside the very best.
Mbappe and Bellingham have both led their teams to domestic success in the 2023-24 campaign but will have their eyes on biggest prize of them all – the Champions League.
Yorke, who won the competition in 1999, believes the Frenchman has the edge over the England midfielder at the moment, but things could change in the next few months.
⚽👀 @BellinghamJude #RMCity pic.twitter.com/jxHYYQel6f
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) April 28, 2024
He said: “You can’t overlook Jude Bellingham as one of the favourites to win the Ballon d’Or.
“If he wins the Champions League and continues to score lots of goals, then yeah I can see him winning it.
“But Kylian Mbappe is ahead of him at the moment, he may not win the major competitions but his quality is out of this world.”
The pair could meet in the Champions League final should Madrid beat Bayern Munich and PSG overcome Borussia Dortmund in the penultimate round before facing off at Euro 2024 this summer.
Yorke added: “If PSG and Real Madrid meet in the Champions League final, and one of them wins the game for their club, that player will most likely win the Ballon d’Or.
“We also have to think about the Euros, the next few months will really tell you who deserves it.”
