5. Ousmane Dembele (PSG and France)
There were questions over Dembele’s productivity. By the end of February, the Frenchman had started adding consistent end products to his play while we were still left contemplating how long that would last. But, it is safe to say that he has gained major ground on these rankings and a major factor has been a shift to the central position.
Dembele popped up with a tie-equaling goal against Liverpool that resulted decisively in their qualification to the quarterfinals of the Champions League. Moreover, PSG have been the only unbeaten team in Europe’s five major leagues and there’s little doubt about who their main man is.
4. Harry Kane (Bayern Munich and England)
Harry Kane’s trophy curse might be coming to an end this season with Bayern maintaining an eight-point lead over defending champions Bayer Leverkusen. He added further salt to Leverkusen’s wounds with three goals and an assist in their UCL Round of 16 tie.
Kane collected the Gerd Muller Trophy, shared with Kylian Mbappe, scoring 52 goals for club and country. This season he has 21 Bundesliga goals and a further 10 in the Champions League. Couple that with eight assists in the season, that makes for Ballon d’Or numbers if you ask me. All there is left for the Englishman to do is substantiate that record with some silverware.
3. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool and Egypt)
Football is a cruel game. One of the obvious frontrunners in the race to glory this season, Mohamed Salah’s chances to win the Ballon d’Or may just have been met with a fatal blow. Against all odds, Salah’s Liverpool are out of the Champions League and that means he loses major ground in his bid for world football’s biggest individual prize.
If Real Madrid, PSG, Barcelona, or Bayern win the Champions League, Salah could have major competition with one of these team’s star players. But, the Egyptian King must at least have a spot on the podium. The 32-year-old has a prolific record of 32 goals and 22 assists for the Reds this season and the Premier League looks to be in the bag for him, thanks to a
15-point gap with second-placed Arsenal.