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EPL Next Monday, football’s great and powerful will descend on Paris, bestowing the Ballon d’Or on the prestige player of the 2024-25 season. While opinions are mixed on the trophy’s merits, it clearly matters deeply to those competing for it. Lamine Yamal is a firm contender for this year’s award and speaking to Spanish outlet RTVE, he said, “Every player wants to win the Ballon d’Or — anyone who tells you otherwise is lying. ” Advertisement Since 2019, the ceremony has been hosted at the Theatre du Chatelet, whose courtyard fountain is flanked on all four sides by carved limestone sphinxes. Here, The Athletic attempts to unravel the Ballon d’Or riddle by ranking the top 10 contenders. Paris Saint-Germain’s Ousmane Dembele (left in top image) was the best player for the best team last season. More often than not, ticking both boxes is enough to guarantee a gold-plated, jewel-encrusted ball for the mantlepiece. Before last season, his latent talent was obvious, but a frustrating lack of consistency meant the 28-year-old was never — until now — even included in the 30-man shortlist for the award. Luis Enrique emphatically unlocked these talents by shifting Dembele forward to the No 9 position. There, his whirring, dynamic movement, bewitching dribbles and sharpened ball-striking made him the perfect spearhead for a dizzyingly talented PSG squad. Kylian Mbappe, whose departure helped facilitate this tactical change, is unequivocal about his compatriot’s credentials for the top prize, telling French broadcaster TF1, “If it were up to me, I’d deliver it to his house. ” By the book, Dembele’s consistent excellence makes him the deserving winner — but for those who place less weight on collective achievement and more on jaw-dropping individual performances on the grandest stages, then Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal (right in top image) probably edges it. Yamal’s record of 30-goal contributions in La Liga and the Champions League was undoubtedly excellent, yet what really stands out is how he accumulated them, saving his best for when the eyes of the football world were most fixed upon him. He scored put in two stunning El Clasico performances in La Liga, scoring a goal in both, but it was his performances against Inter in the Champions League semi-finals that really set tongues wagging and keyboards clattering. His influence can be seen in his player dashboard from the first leg, below, when he dribbled and passed more proficiently than anyone else on the pitch. His goal in the first leg distilled everything that marks him out as a world-beater: the balance and acceleration to glide past defenders, capped by a venomous, curling strike into the corner. Yamal has carried that momentum into the new campaign, starting in red-hot form with two goals and an assist in La Liga, plus three more assists for Spain during the international break. The 18-year-old may not claim the award next Monday, but with the World Cup looming, he will be a firm favourite to claim it next time. Advertisement For all their attacking flair, it was midfield excellence that formed the backbone of PSG’s Champions League triumph. At its core was Vitinha, his elegant playmaking at the base of midfield the classy conduit through which their intricate moves flowed. Nominally the deepest of PSG’s midfield trio, he is not merely there to set the tempo but is also given licence to roam further forward and create. This came to the fore in the biggest game of all: the Champions League final. Vitinha’s threaded ball from the left edge of the penalty area was the key to unlocking Inter’s defence for the opening goal. His assist for the third underlined the blend of guile and bustling energy that makes him indispensable. Starting the move from deep, he collected Dembele’s backheel in midfield, drove powerfully into space, and then released Desire Doue to apply the finish. The 25-year-old then capped his year with a starring role in Portugal’s Nations League win. Four and a half years ago, Vitinha won the FA Cup’s award for goal of the fourth round for a 30-yard strike in a 1-0 away win against Chorley while on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers. Now, he is in the frame for a slightly more illustrious honour. This list won’t simply alternate interminably between PSG and Barcelona’s best talents, but both sides were exceptional last season, and Brazilian winger Raphinha is another who warrants a lofty place here. As the joint-highest goalscorer in the Champions League (13, level with Borussia Dortmund’s Serhou Guirassy), and La Liga’s official player of the season, he could even be forgiven for storming into the comments to argue for a higher ranking here. Operating from the right side of Barcelona’s attack, Raphinha delivered 34 goals and 22 assists in all competitions to guide his club to a domestic treble. In Europe, he did all he could, producing awe-inspiring performances even as Barcelona ultimately fell short. His late driving finish in the semi-final second leg seemed destined to send them into the final, only for Inter to conjure an even later sucker punch. Advertisement The 28-year-old possesses all the hallmarks of a flair player — the jinking dribbles, the moments of outrageous skill — and pairs them with a relentless work ethic off the ball. “Raphinha always starts the pressure. The dynamism he brings to the team is invaluable, ” head coach Hansi Flick told Barca One, the club’s streaming platform, last season. He is the complete modern attacker, one who marries individual ingenuity with a selfless commitment to the team. Even by Salah’s lofty standards, 2024-25 stood apart. The Egyptian provided 47 goal contributions, more than any player across Europe’s top five leagues. The consistency of his output is remarkable: no one else in those leagues has registered double figures for both goals and assists in each of the past four seasons. Yet despite this unyielding quality, a Ballon d’Or-shaped hole remains in his brimming trophy cabinet. Time is running out for the 33-year-old to fill it. His continued snubbing is a reflection of the capricious dynamics that so often dictate where the trophy ends up. With such heavy weight placed on Champions League success, outcomes can hinge on the isolated moments knockout football throws up, as it did when Liverpool were eliminated in this season’s last 16 on penalties by PSG. That likely rules him out again this year. But Salah, who travelled several hours a day just to reach training as a youngster, is no quitter. As head coach Arne Slot put it last season: “He’s going to try to push even harder next season. ” Full-back is arguably the hardest position from which to win the Ballon d’Or — too removed from the attack to deliver the headline numbers of the forwards, yet not deep enough for the dogged, last-ditch heroics that gritty centre-backs are celebrated for. Trent Alexander-Arnold has spoken of his dream to be the first, but if a shock win were to come from this position, it is Achraf Hakimi who looks best-placed to break the mould. Advertisement That’s partly because Hakimi’s relentless, marauding style means he hardly profiles like a typical full-back. Last season, the 26-year-old took the majority of his touches in the opposition half for PSG and found the net in the quarter-finals, semi-final and final. While his attacking prowess from the right is well established, Enrique believes that “he’s becoming more well-rounded, especially on the defensive side”. His omission from the shortlist in 2023 was surprising after his pivotal role in Morocco’s run to the 2022 World Cup semi-finals, but his nomination this time suggests full-backs may finally be starting to get the appreciation they deserve. With PSG so heavily represented on this list, it would be remiss to overlook Cole Palmer — the 23-year-old who dismantled them in the one final they lost last season. Granted, the Club World Cup ended the summer still fighting for relevancy, but PSG did take it seriously, and could not find an answer to Palmer’s scintillating display. The attacking midfielder scored twice and set up a third in Chelsea’s 3-0 victory. His performance in New Jersey showcased the qualities that make him so special. His spatial awareness and intelligent movement allowed him to drift into the gaps PSG repeatedly left behind. His exquisite second goal came after a series of clever jinks and feints before a clinical, placed finish, while his deft assist for Joao Pedro underlined his outstanding playmaking vision. It was a display in keeping with his excellent season, even if he did endure a dry spell of 18 games without a goal or assist for club or country. “Cole belongs to that group that are not normal players, ” said head coach Enzo Maresca. Mbappe’s brilliance last season was individual rather than collective, with Real Madrid’s silverware limited to the European Super Cup and Intercontinental Cup, a barren return by their usual standards. Questions remain over whether his talent is enough to compensate for his minimal off-ball work, but the 26-year-old’s raw goalscoring numbers last season were nothing short of remarkable. He scored 44 goals, though this was aided by football’s expanding calendar, with Mbappe featuring in 59 games across all competitions. Advertisement Without major honours to boot, those breathtaking totals are unlikely to deliver the Ballon d’Or, but they more than justify an elevated place in the final standings. The most understated player on this list, Fabian Ruiz is another midfielder who makes PSG purr. Less eye-catching than Vitinha but every bit as effective, Fabian thrives both in and out of possession for Enrique’s side. As his playstyle wheel shows, he rarely surrenders the ball, uses his imposing frame to win it back when PSG lose it, and offers a creative spark as well. The 29-year-old is deceptively quick too, his intelligent movement part of the fluid rotations that makes PSG’s midfield so hard to track and contain. Luis Enrique is in no doubt about his qualities: “He is one of the best players I have in midfield, for the way he plays with his teammates, between the lines, and off the ball. ” There’s an abundance of world-class talent on this list already to split hairs over, so let’s use the last spot to shine a light on the most-improved candidate, someone whose very presence on the Ballon d’Or shortlist would have felt totally far-fetched only a year ago. Named Serie A’s official MVP, Scott Mc Tominay dazzled after moving to Napoli. His knack for goalscoring was always evident playing for Manchester United and Scotland, but Antonio Conte brought it to the fore by deploying him in a more advanced central role. The tweak proved inspired, with Mc Tominay scoring 12 league goals. Many of them arrived in decisive moments, including a vital strike away to title rivals Inter and his stunning scissor kick to seal the title against Cagliari. Mc Tominay’s success is a richly deserved reward for a player who bravely stepped beyond the comfort of his boyhood club to rejuvenate his career outside the Premier League bubble. For that, he deserves every bit of recognition. (Top photos: Getty Images) Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle Conor is a Data and Tactics Writer for The Athletic. Before joining The Athletic, he worked as a Data Journalist at Sky Sports News for two years, producing analytical features on football and other sports. Conor pivoted into journalism after starting his career in data science and quantitative analysis. He focuses on delivering insightful, engaging, and enjoyable data-driven analysis.