The winner of the Ballon d'Or will be announced in the next few hours and days prior Rio Ferdinand asked several Manchester United and Arsenal legends who they think will take the prize. Striver co-founder Gilberto Silva gave his pick for the best player in the world during 2025-2026.
This is one of the most wide open races that the award has had for a while with multiple players putting up a good case. Some have put up ridiculous numbers while others have been the star man for their team winning all the silverware.
The award will only be judged on the season not the calendar year so anything that happened after the World Cup won't be counted towards each players credentials.
Backing the Barcelona Starboy
The player Gilberto believes is destined to win the award is Barcelona's teenage superstar Lamine Yamal. He may have been injured and not played amazing at the World Cup but his club form has been unstoppable.
Yamal managed 25 goals and 20 assists in 57 games for Barca last season, scoring key goals in the Champions League and coming up with moments of magic when it mattered. At 19 years old, numbers like these are unheard off for someone in their prime let alone during their teenage years.
You can see Gilberto make his pick below:
Many young attackers struggle to find the formula for end product but Yamal has already cracked the code showing no pressure in the big moments and making chances out of nothing.
What the Others Thought
Yamal was the most popular choice from the rest of the legendary names whom Ferdinand asked. Ryan Giggs, Nemanja Vidic, John O'Shea, and Ashley Cole all backed the young Spaniard too.
Former United striker Dimitar Berbatov admitted he was "biased" before selecting England captain Harry Kane, while Louis Saha backed Kylian Mbappé "because he is French." Meanwhile, Mikael Silvestre gave Michael Olise the nod.
Everyone has different criteria when picking the winner Kane or Mbappe would be the favourite if it's off poor numbers while Olise and Yamal would probably be picked for the best player to watch from the big teams with silverware.
