Lamine Yamal rejects goal stats for Ballon d'Or for 'players that make you dream'

Barcelona forward Lamine Yamal says the Ballon d'Or should go to the player that makes people smile the most, not whoever has scored the most goals.

Yamal, 19, finished second to Ousmane Dembélé last year and is once again in the running to claim the most-coveted individual prize in the game.

The winner will be crowned at a ceremony in London on Oct. 26, with Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappé and Bayern Munich's Harry Kane also part of an open field alongside Yamal and Paris Saint-Germain's Dembélé.

"It's fun that there are more players [up for the prize], more debate and people can have different opinions," Yamal told L'Equipe.

"At the end of the day, it comes down to the journalists. It's a difficult job for them. We all have good arguments to win it. We are all great players, so let's see.

"The Ballon d'Or is for the best player of the year, someone different, someone we have enjoyed watching, who has that magic, makes you smile and look forward to watching games just to see them play.

"It's not to do with the sheer number of goals. When I think of the Ballon d'Or, I think of [Lionel] Messi, Ronaldinho... different players, players that make you dream."

If it came down to goals alone, England striker Kane would have a good chance of winning it after netting 61 goals for Bayern, who won the Bundesliga.

Mbappé, meanwhile, scored 42 for Madrid, although he didn't win any trophies last season, while Yamal netted 24 and Dembélé, a European champion with PSG, 20.

However, Yamal believes his playing style, coupled with the fact he won the World Cup with Spain, gives him the edge.

"On the pitch I enjoy myself," he added. "I have also been lucky enough to win a lot of trophies with Barcelona.

"And I won the biggest trophy of them all, the World Cup with my national team. But beyond all that, I think the way I play is the strongest argument and what makes me different."

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Still a teenager, Yamal has won nearly everything there is to win in the game already, including the European Championships and World Cup with his country.

Collectively, the only trophy he's lacking is the Champions League, but the Ballon d'Or is also a major objective as he seeks to establish himself alongside the game's greats.

"Yes, I dream of winning [the Ballon d'Or]," he said. "I always say that everyone has to aim as high as possible. If I was a waiter, I would want to own the restaurant.

"I play to make history, so that in 30 years kids say: 'He was really good.' But it's not an obsession. I never think 'I want to be better than Pele or Messi.' I don't want to compare myself with others.

"I want to be Lamine Yamal. I want to be remembered as Lamine Yamal. I hope to be remembered among the greats. I have the capacity to do it; it depends on me."

Meanwhile, Kane's Bayern teammate Luis Díaz has told ESPN the former Tottenham striker is the outstanding candidate to win this year's Ballon d'Or.

"I already knew he scored loads of goals, but training with him every day, seeing his mentality, he has dazzled me even more," Díaz said.

"It's difficult to sum him up in one word. Brutal, maybe... magnificent. For me, it's hard to find the perfect word to describe him.

"For me, he's the No.1 candidate to win the Ballon d'Or. I hope he wins it."