"I would say" - Kylian Mbappe names his Ballon d'Or top 3 for this season

In an interview with France Football, Kylian Mbappe revealed his top 3 picks for the 2022 Ballon d’Or award.

The 30 nominees for this year’s Ballon d’Or award were recently announced. Kylian Mbappe was among the 4 Frenchmen who were nominated while his teammates Neymar and Lionel Messi did not make the list. Messi lost out on the nominee list for the first time since 2005 while his biggest rival Cristiano Ronaldo made the list. Still, Ronaldo also looks unlikely to finish among the official top 3 as his team suffered a poor season despite his 24 goals.

The 23-year-old Kylian Mbappe chose Karim Benzema, himself and Sadio Mane as the 3 favorites. The French striker also suggested that Benzema deserved the award and should stop thinking about the Balon d’Or if he does not win it:

“My top three? I would say Benzema, myself, and Mané.”

He added:

“I would say that this year is a success for Benzema. He’s 34 years old, has just had the season of his life, has won another Champions League and is often decisive… If I were Karim, if I don’t win this, I’ll stop thinking about the Ballon d’Or forever (laughs).”

Kylian Mbappe includes himself as one of the favorites to win the Ballon d’Or

There is little doubt that Mbappe has been one of the most outstanding players of the past season in club football. The Frenchman could easily have won the Ballon d’Or had PSG won the Champions League. He scored 39 goals and had 21 assists in 46 appearances across all competitions.

Mbappe was PSG’s star player despite the presence of Neymar and Lionel Messi and will be optimistic about landing a few Ballon d’Or titles in the next few years. The fact remains that the likes of Benzema, Mohammed Salah, and Robert Lewandowski are only going to compete for a few more years.

At the same time, both Messi and Ronaldo appear to have won their last Ballon d’Or awards. Mbappe, along with Erling Haaland, appear to be the two best players of the coming generation. Both players have made major decisions about their futures recently, with Mbappe opting to stay at PSG and Haaland entering the Premier League by joining Manchester City, the duo might dominate club football for years to come. It will be interesting to see whether they can maintain the kind of trajectory that they have started their careers with.