Gerard Pique says he wants Lamine Yamal to win the Ballon d'Or, to label the young person as “special”.
Yamal and Ousmane Dembele are among the favorites to cancel the award this year after Stellar campaigns for Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain respectively.
Barca won the Laliga title, the Copa del Rey and the Supercopa de Espana this period, with Yamal who registered 18 goals and 21 assists in all competitions. Only Raphinha (27) improved the last figure in the team.
It is remarkable that Yamal led the hit lists in Laliga for Assists (13), shots from outside the area (67), created great opportunities (28), shots after a Carry (56), opportunities created after a Carry (35), through balls (33) and Dribbels (161) in 2024) in 2024-25.
In the meantime, Dembele was part of PSG's Treble-winning team and played a key role in their Maiden Champions League triumph, which sets up two of their five goals in the record-breaking victory over Inter.
The Frenchman scored 33 goals and provided 13 assists for PSG in 2024-25. Among all players from Europe's top five competitions, only Mohamed Salah (57), Raphinha (56), Harry Kane (49) and Kylian Mbappe (48) improved Dembele's 46 total target intervention.
He registered 14 of those target statements in the Champions League, scored eight and assisted six. That is the second most target contributions from a French player in a single edition of the competition, after Karim Benzema in 2021-22 (17).
Pique shared a dressing room with Dembele during his time in Barcelona, ​​while he was also in the club while Yamal came through the academy.
But the former defender believes that the 17-year-old will be the one who gets the trophy.
“I had the chance to share a dressing room with Ousmane and Lamine Yamal. They are both incredible people,” he said Sport.es.
“Ousmane was like a brother, but Lamine is special.
“I would prefer Lamine Yamal to win because he is in Barcelona and is also involved in the King's League [a seven-a-side tournament founded by Pique]. He has a team, so I would like him to win.
“But I really love Ousmane, and if he wins, I will be happy for him.”
Pique also praised his former coach, Luis Enrique, who only became the second manager who won a Treble with a European club on two different occasions, after Pep Guardiola.
Luis Enrique led PSG to the biggest last victory of the Champions League in the history of the competition, and Pique was pleased to see his success.
“I know him very well,” he added. “He is fantastic. You recently started to get to know him, but he is a real leader.
“And he always shows it. Since Mbappe has left, they have become a team and play one of the best football in the world.”