Ballon d’Or: Owen Hargreaves names top two contenders for 2025 award

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Ballon d’Or: Owen Hargreaves names top two contenders for 2025 award

Former England forward, Owen Hargreaves, has shared his opinion on the player to be awarded the 2025 Ballon d’Or.

He is of the opinion that Barcelona superstar, Raphinha, is very close to Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah in the race for the Ballon d’Or.

He believes that any of these two that wins the Champions League this season could be crowned the best player in the world.

Raphinha is still in the race to win the Champions League this season after Barcelona knocked out Benfica in the Round of sixteen on Tuesday.

The chances of Mohamed Salah of Liverpool winning the Ballon d’Or got dimmer last night after the Reds were beaten 4-1 on penalties by PSG to crash out of the competition.

Egyptian playmaker, Salah, has scored 32 goals and provided 22 assists in 41 games for Liverpool this season.

He has helped Liverpool to sit atop the Premier League and have made the EFL Cup final.

On the other hand, Raphinha has scored 27 goals and made 19 assists in 41 appearances across all competitions.

The former Leeds United winger have helped his club climb to top of the Spanish top flight league, reached the semifinals of the Copa del Rey and the quarterfinals of the Champions League.

Speaking on TNT Sports, Hargreaves said, “You could argue on the numbers for the season that he’s (Raphinha) in the contention for the Ballon d’Or.

“His finishing is incredible, it’s been out of this world. He’s been an absolute revelation.

“Salah and Raphinha have similar numbers in terms of goals and assists, which is quite remarkable…

“I think right now it’s probably Mo Salah, but I think Raphinha is very, very close.”