Le Parisien picks a side early
Fifty-two days out from the vote, a newspaper front page has done what fifty-two days of quiet campaigning could not. Le Parisien led on Friday with “Kvara, Ballon d’Or mission”, and the French debate had its candidate.
The Ballon d’Or is handed out on October 26. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia arrives there off a season at the very top level with PSG, and a win would make it two in a row for the club after Ousmane Dembele took the last edition.
Luis Enrique cracked the door open himself. Speaking before the visit of Monaco, the Spaniard said plainly that he wants one of his players rewarded on October 26.
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Emery, Kroos and a three-time winner
Kvaratskhelia is not short of backers. Unai Emery has spoken up for him. So has Toni Kroos. Samir Nasri, Michel Platini and Luis Fernandez have all done the same in recent weeks.
The list is worth reading twice, because it mixes serving coaches, former internationals and men who have actually held the trophy. Platini won it three years running between 1983 and 1985. When he speaks about this award in France, people listen.
The case itself rests on last season. Consistency across the campaign, attacking numbers, a habit of turning up in the games that decided things. Most of the boxes a voter looks for are already ticked.
Dembele, Mbappe and the Spanish problem
None of which settles anything. Dembele is still in the race as the reigning holder, Kylian Mbappe is very much in the conversation, and several Spain internationals sit among the serious contenders.
Voters weigh individual output, team trophies and what a player did when a season hung in the balance. The French press box is one room. Kvaratskhelia needs a good many more of them.
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