Campaigns by Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappe ahead of the Ballon d'Or: utterly absurd and arrogant

Those were the days, 25 years ago. In 2001, 21-year-old Michael Owen won the Ballon d'Or, the most prestigious and significant individual award in world football. The forward had already won the UEFA Cup, the FA Cup and the English League Cup with Liverpool, scoring 24 goals along the way.

"I had absolutely no idea what it was. Back then it wasn't a topic in the press at all," Owen revealed last year. He said the then Reds manager told him over the phone. "When Gerard Houllier called me and told me I'd won the Ballon d'Or, I asked: What is that, coach?"

I do not want to stubbornly claim that those are the days I want back. I have hardly ever been able to get excited about the Ballon d'Or, but it is of course perfectly fine that its importance has increased noticeably in recent years, both among players and in the public perception.

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Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappe before the Ballon d'Or: questionable self-glorification

What I do find deeply embarrassing, inappropriate and arrogant is the questionable self-glorification of the potential winners among the 30 nominees. Their clubs only add to it, missing no chance to praise their man to the skies or even state plainly that he deserves it more than the competition.

"Why shouldn't we campaign for him?" Barcelona manager Hansi Flick asked recently about his protégé Lamine Yamal, one of the favourites for this year's ceremony on 26 October in London. My answer: because it has nothing to do with humility or being a role model. Because, as countless coaches around the world always stress, the truth lies on the pitch and there is no need for such transparent statements to elevate your own player above others. And because it is simply unlikeable.

Then there is Yamal, still only 18, sitting down and saying, as he did recently: "To be honest: I think I deserve this award this year - because of what I have won." Completely overbearing, too, is the way Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe describes himself as the "chosen one" and says that "no player was better than me last season". Just imagine someone in youth team football talking about himself like that.

Ballon d'Or: the past ten winners

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Campaigns before the Ballon d'Or award: Jose Mourinho exposes himself

Granted, these targeted campaigns ahead of the award ceremony are hardly new. In a sport that rightly keeps stressing the importance of the collective, they may have reached a new level of public ego this year. But Real were doing it as far back as 2013, when they assembled Alfredo Di Stefano, Emilio Butragueno, Carlo Ancelotti, Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos to drum up support for Cristiano Ronaldo in the race against Lionel Messi and Franck Ribery, and unfortunately, in my view, successfully so.

Two years ago, Los Blancos even caused a scandal when they abruptly cancelled their trip to Paris and boycotted the ceremony. Before that, word had leaked out that Rodri and not Vinicius Junior would win. Instead, they issued the following statement: "If the criteria for the award do not declare Vinicius the winner, then the same criteria should declare Carvajal the winner. Since that was not the case, it is obvious that the Ballon d'Or and UEFA do not respect Real Madrid. And Real Madrid are not where they are not respected."

More recently, none other than current Real coach Jose Mourinho laid bare all the political madness behind the Ballon d'Or and exposed himself. In 2012, the Portuguese claimed: "How can you win the Ballon d'Or without winning titles, without winning anything significant? Don't come to me with the Club World Cup or the Super Cup - those are trifles. Tell me about the big titles." Then a few weeks ago he said: "You cannot award the Ballon d'Or to a player just because he won the Champions League or the World Cup. The best player in the world are two, three or four, and we know who they are and where they are. We know who individually made history this summer."

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Ballon d'Or: the need for recognition and hubris should not be rewarded

Of course Mbappe has "arguments in favour of winning the Ballon d'Or", as he said. Of course, for such exceptional players it may be, and perhaps even must be, an individual goal to chase this trophy. But they could never win it without their team-mates, even if some of them may be less talented.

Obvious self-importance, the need for recognition and the hubris of blasé professionals and clubs should not be rewarded, especially when that behaviour only pushes modern football further away from its roots.

One final point needs stressing: I could not care less who wins the Ballon d'Or in 2026. The fact, however, that Harry Kane, a hot contender for victory, supposedly made a conscious decision not to promote his own case in the run-up to the award makes me hope that precisely that kind of behaviour is honoured.

Ballon d'Or 2026: the 30-man shortlist