Really, the winner of the 2026 Ballon d'Or can only be Harry Kane

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 was not a topic in the press at all," Owen revealed last year. He said the then Reds manager told him the news over the phone. "When Gerard Houllier called me and told me I had won the Ballon d'Or, I asked: What is that, coach?"

I do not want to stubbornly claim I long for those days. I have hardly ever been able to get excited about the Ballon d'Or, but of course there is nothing wrong with its importance increasing noticeably in recent years, both among the players and in the public eye.

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

What I do find highly embarrassing, inappropriate and arrogant, though, is the questionable self-glorification of the potential winners among the 30 nominees. Their clubs are feeding it too, missing no chance to praise their player to the skies or even state outright that he deserves it more than the competition.

"Why shouldn't we back him?" Barcelona manager Hansi Flick asked recently in reference to his protégé Lamine Yamal, one of the favourites for victory at this year's ceremony on 26 October in London. My answer: because it has nothing to do with humility and 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 easily seen-through statements in order to elevate your own player above others. And because it is simply unlikeable.

Completely ridiculous that an 18-year-old Yamal, as happened recently, sits down and claims: "To be honest, I think I deserve this award this year - because of what I have won." Completely arrogant, 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 speaking about themselves 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 in the run-up to the award ceremony are hardly new. In a sport where the importance of the collective is always rightly emphasised, they may have reached new levels of displayed egotism this year. But as early as 2013, for example, Real assembled a group consisting of Alfredo Di Stefano, Emilio Butragueno, Carlo Ancelotti, Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos to do a huge amount of promotion for Cristiano Ronaldo in the race with Lionel Messi and Franck Ribery, and unfortunately, in my view, successfully too.

Two years ago, Los Blancos even caused a scandal when they abruptly cancelled their trip to Paris and boycotted the ceremony. It had previously leaked out that Rodri, and not Vinicius Junior, will win. Instead, they issued the following statement: "If the criteria for the award ceremony do not declare Vinicius the winner, 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 is not where it is not respected."

More recently, none other than current Real coach Jose Mourinho laid bare the whole political madness behind the Ballon d'Or and exposed himself. In 2012, the Portuguese still 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." A few weeks ago he then 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: need for recognition and hubris should not be rewarded

Of course Mbappe has "arguments for 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 than they are.

Obvious self-importance, a need for recognition and the hubris of jaded professionals and clubs, who with such behaviour also contribute to modern football moving ever further away from the grassroots, should not be rewarded.

Before the final sentence is written here, I would like to stress once again: I could not care less who wins the Ballon d'Or in 2026. The fact, however, that Harry Kane, a hot candidate for victory, allegedly made a conscious decision not to advertise on his own behalf in the run-up to the award makes me hope that precisely such behaviour is honoured.

Ballon d'Or 2026: the 30-man shortlist