Marco Verratti insists 'humble' former PSG team-mate Kylian Mbappe will win Ballon d'Or 'sooner or later'
Updated 31/07/2025 at 14:28 GMT+1
Marco Verratti believes that his former Paris Saint-Germain team-mate Kylian Mbappe will one day win the Ballon d'Or. Despite netting 44 times across all competitions in his first Real Madrid season, the Frenchman is unlikely to claim this year's prize, given the La Liga giants ended their campaign trophyless. Instead, Ousmane Dembele, Vitinha and Achraf Hakimi are among the contenders.
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Former Paris Saint-Germain player Marco Verratti insists Kylian Mbappe will win the Ballon d'Or "sooner or later".
After a relatively slow start to life at Real Madrid, in which he scored just three times in his first 11 appearances, Mbappe went on to net 44 times across all competitions in his maiden Los Blancos campaign.
However, the Frenchman hasn't featured much in the discussion for this year's Ballon d'Or, after Real ended their season trophy-less.
Instead, Mbappe's former PSG team-mates Ousmane Dembele, Vitinha and Achraf Hakimi are all thought to be in contention, after the Ligue 1 outfit dazzled their way to a first-ever Champions League win.
Meanwhile, Barcelona starlet Lamine Yamal and Liverpool's Mohamed Salah have also been discussed as potential Ballon d'Or contenders, with the winner to be announced at a ceremony in Paris in September.
In an interview with Italian publication La Gazzetta della Sport, former PSG midfielder Verratti talked up Mbappe's chances of one day winning the Ballon d'Or, even if it's not this year.
"Mbappe. He’s hungry. He’s competitive," Verratti said. "I'm convinced that sooner or later he'll win the Ballon d'Or."
The former Italy international, who now plays for Qatari side Al Duhail, praised Mbappe, while recounting how PSG had lured eight-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi to the club in 2021.
He said: "I remember a fantastic evening that became almost magical. We were in Ibiza, Neymar came to me and told me we were having dinner with Leo Messi tonight.
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"So we ended up at the table - Leo [Messi], [Leandro] Paredes, Ney, and [Angel] Di Maria. We talked and had a great time. And we encouraged him, so to speak, to come to Paris.
"Late that evening, we said goodbye, and the next day we read that there were problems between him and Barcelona.
"Then, in the early afternoon, Neymar called me: ‘Marco, Leo is coming to us.’ Incredible: from having him for dinner, to having him as a teammate. A magical evening.
"Neymar? A golden boy, generous, humble, who gives his all to the people he loves, we still keep in touch."
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