Several weeks before the Ballon d'Or ceremony in London on 26 October, British outlet The Touchline has gone public with the names of the two players it says sit at the top of the rankings. "CONFIRMED: Lamine Yamal and Harry Kane are the TWO leading contenders for this year's Ballon d'Or. The battle for the trophy will go down between ONLY THEM!" the outlet declared in a social media post. Geoffroy Garetier, a journalist with French broadcaster Canal+, pointed out that leaks of this kind are nothing new in football, and that the odds offered by British bookmakers point to exactly this scenario.
The organisers go to great lengths to keep the results secret, yet British bookmakers can barely separate Lamine Yamal and Harry Kane. Kylian Mbappe finds himself at the opposite end of the scale, well down the list of favourites and trailing even Lionel Messi. The France captain has noticeably ramped up his media campaign this season, but if the reports are confirmed, his bid for football's biggest individual prize will be over.
