**Everton midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has praised Harry Kane’s relentless mentality following the striker’s Ballon d’Or triumph, with his reaction offering an interesting talking point for the Toffees’ English contingent.**
Kane was crowned the winner at Monday night’s ceremony in London after scoring 73 goals for club and country during the 2025/26 season, including 61 in 51 appearances for Bayern Munich. He beat off competition from Kylian Mbappe and Lamine Yamal to claim the ultimate individual prize in football, and the ceremony taking place in London no doubt made it even more special.
There have been many tributes to Kane since his win last night, with many in awe of his development into a world-class player, which has been made possible by an unrivalled work-rate.
And that work-rate was acknowledged by [Everton’s](https://www.everton.news/club/) own [Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall](https://www.everton.news/tag/kiernan-dewsbury-hall/) this morning.
Kane uploaded a photo of himself on social media last night holding his shiny new Ballon d’Or trophy, and the post has received thousands upon thousands of likes, reposts and comments.
Dewsbury-Hall was among those to react, posting the following message in praise of Kane’s mentality:
Of course, Kane is an example to just about any footballer given his journey to winning the Ballon d’Or. His journey to the top hasn’t been without scrutiny. There were questions over his trophy-winning prospects during his time at Tottenham Hotspur, while his move to Bayern Munich brought fresh expectations.
But the move has been completely vindicated now, and it wouldn’t have been possible without his tremendous work ethic, which is now famous.
With his victory, Kane became the first English winner in 25 years, after Michael Owen scooped the award in 2001. He is only the fifth English player ever to win it.
Dewsbury-Hall’s message has relevance beyond the England captain himself. For Everton’s English players, it serves as a reminder of the ambition, persistence and commitment required to fulfil their potential at the highest level.
There are several hugely talented English players on the books at Everton at the moment. Dewsbury-Hall himself, James Garner, Jarrad Branthwaite, Tyrique George and Tyler Dibling to name but a few.
Winning a Ballon d’Or is an incredibly tough thing to do, but Kane’s achievement just shows that anything is possible if a certain level of dedication is applied.
Every player in Everton’s squad should be looking at what happened last night and feeling extremely inspired. Hopefully that’ll be the case because that would only be positive for Everton, who are trying to build a squad that’s brimming with talented players who are hungry to achieve.
Having a number of players trying to adopt the mentality of Kane can only be a massive positive.