Estan Slams Ballon d'Or Amid Mbappé Debate

"The award is now a marketing tool," said Estevan, a forward for Barcelona, dismissing the row that has broken out over this year's Ballon d'Or.

He said he would rather keep his attention on the pitch, pointing to a Barcelona side that has been "an enjoyable watch" through the start of the season, and argued the sport has grown too fixated on individual prizes. "If you take a player like Messi, Cruyff, Maradona... he's the best and that's it, there's no debate," he said, but added that judged season by season the winner always splits opinion along club lines, "because everyone leans towards one player or another depending on their colours."

Kylian Mbappé, in line for this year's award despite lifting no title, was his central example. Real Madrid have already felt that shortfall on the pitch: Betis beat them 1-0 last week after Alvaro Valles saved a Mbappé penalty, ending Carlo Ancelotti's unbeaten start. "Mbappé is proof," Estan said. "He scored a lot of goals, that's what the Golden Boot is for, but he didn't win a single title, and they're running a campaign to get him voted in."

He also took aim at the spread of individual honours through the game. "There's an obsession with awards: now there's even a Man of the Match for every game, when we're talking about a team sport," he said. "Every matchday, every game, Man of the Match. Excessive."

He said forwards are favoured by design. "If one player gives 40 assists and another scores 40 goals, the one with the goals will always win, even if the passer is the better player and the scorer gets his goals by simply tapping the ball in or from the penalty spot, as has often happened," he said, adding that the prize "should be a recognition of the best footballer of the year, not the one with the most admirers among those who vote."

If that argument gains ground, the loudest disputes over the Ballon d'Or may keep coming from strikers and playmakers left off the podium rather than from those collecting it, with Mbappé's own case likely to stay the flashpoint through to the ceremony.