Harry Kane is in a strong position to claim his first Ballon d’Or trophy after his 61-goal season helped Bayern Munich lift the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal titles. The 33-year-old also enjoyed a solid World Cup, leading The Three Lions to a third place finish and scoring six goals in the process.
On the back of the Englishman’s career-defining season, Kane has received support from the likes of Rio Ferdinand, Luca Toni, and Christoph Freund to snatch football’s most prestigious individual award.
Now,
Bayern board member for sport Max Eberl has also thrown his support behind the bagsman.
“You have to look at the role Harry Kane has played in world football over the past few years, both at Tottenham and, especially, at Bayern Munich,” said Eberl in an interview with Kerry Hau of Sky Germany(as captured by @iMiaSanMia). “For me, a Ballon d’Or winner isn’t simply about scoring the most goals or winning the most trophies. Harry can compete with anyone on both counts, except for [winning] the Champions League, so far. But above all, for me, it comes down to this: What does it mean to be a role model? If you look at Harry Kane as a footballer, both on and off the pitch, he is someone kids and society as a whole can look up to and take inspiration from in terms of how to conduct themselves. To me, those are the qualities of an ambassador, and a Ballon d’Or winner should also be an ambassador. That’s why, for me, Harry Kane is actually the clear choice.”
If the Ballon d’Or was based on who the best footballing role models are, then you may as well give the award to Kane. While, Eberl’s sentiment holds truth, France Football certainly won’t be taking such factors into account when awarding the title of best men’s football player.
Nonetheless, Kane still stands a very good chance at becoming the fourth ever Bayern player to win the award after Gerd Müller, Franz Beckenbauer, and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.
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