Thomas Müller leaves out Harry Kane as he names his Ballon d’Or favourites

Bayern Munich forward Harry Kane and FC Barcelona wonderkid Lamine Yamal have largely been regarded as the two leading candidates to win the Ballon d’Or, which will be awarded later this month.

Interestingly, Bayern Munich legend Thomas Müller didn’t include his former teammate Harry Kane among his favourites.

Instead, he picked Kane’s Bayern teammate Michael Olise and Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappé, who both impressed him at the World Cup with France.

“What’s going on at Bayern at home? I watched parts of the last game – above all, of course, the Olise show. It’s nothing new, the way he converts those shots from outside the box, but it’s still a spectacle every time,” Müller wrote in a newsletter.

"And that brings us straight to the big World Player of the Year question: for me, there are two candidates who have impressed me the most with their individual performances, and they are Michael Olise and his perfectly complementary partner at the World Cup, Kylian Mbappé.

“Why? The two of them combine spectacular play with a constant threat in front of goal. More specifically, they manage to be efficient through their finesse and power, while making the whole thing look incredibly effortless. To me, that’s the stuff of a World Player of the Year. You simply need a touch of magic,” the former Bayern Munich and Germany forward argued.

The Ballon d’Or, awarded to the world’s best player, will be presented on Monday, October 26.