The 2025 Ballon d'Or race is heating up and with the 2024/25 campaign in the books, there are a number of players considered to be well in the running for the award. Barcelona's dominance in Spain this year has seen the likes of Lamine Yamal and Raphinha emerge as contenders, while Paris Saint-Germain's first ever Champions League trophy and the role both Ousmane Dembele and Vitinha played in that success has seen the pair also enter the running.
Add Mohamed Salah's incredible campaign at Liverpool as the Reds won their second ever Premier League trophy and you've got a solid group of players who many expect to be the favourites to get their hands on the Ballon d'Or prize. Still, former Barcelona star Pedro has revealed he thinks someone else should actually be the winner.
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The 20-year-old went quite left-field with his suggestion.
Pedro Thinks Pedri Should Win the Ballon d'Or Award
The midfielder was ever-present for Barcelona this season in La Liga
While Yamal and Raphinha have earned the majority of the plaudits for Barcelona's excellent season in Spain, the club's former player, Pedro, thinks that its another one of their stars who deserves to win the Ballon d'Or and that is Pedri. The midfielder played 59 times for the Catalan giants last season as they won the domestic treble. He recorded 14 goal contributions along the way and was integral to Hansi Flick's success.
Speaking to Spanish outlet Sport, and quoted by TNT Sports, former Barcelona and Chelsea man Pedro thinks he did more than enough throughout the campaign to win the Ballon d'Or award. He said:
"I would give Pedri maximum points, then Lamine Yamal and then maybe the other candidates out there are [Ousmane] Dembele and Raphinha.
"I would love Pedri to win, for us it is a pride and pleasure to have another player from Tenerife and the Canary Islands at the elite level of football, leading it like he leads it, with exemplary behaviour and always giving his all on the pitch."
Pedri isn't necessarily a player that many will have as their favourite to win the Ballon d'Or award, but he's certainly high on Pedro's list. Whether the midfielder will come close to beating out the likes of Yamal and Dembele to the award remains to be seen, but as of now, it seems quite unlikely.
All statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt and accurate as of 26/06/2025