Real Madrid winger Yan Diomande finished fifth in the Kopa Trophy rankings at the Ballon d'Or ceremony last Monday. There was a lot of talk about who was going to win the award. Although it looked like it was going to go to Pau Cubarsi, for some reason it went to Lamine Yamal once again.
Real Madrid fans knew that Diomande was probably not going to win this season, solely because of the talent that he had in front of him. As good as Diomande is, Yamal and Cubarsi are probably the two most talented youngsters in world football at the moment, and it makes complete sense for them to take the top two rankings. However, fans have been talking about his place in the rankings, and they think it is too low for a player of Diomande's quality.
Yan Diomande should not have been higher than fourth place, anyway
Let me be clear: Diomande is one of the most talented players in world football, but there should not be any debate on the ranking. As far as Diomande goes, if I were to rank the entire order once again, the only change I would make with regards to Diomande would be to put him above Lennart Karl in the rankings. That is literally it. There is no robbery against Diomande because the players in front of him, for the most part, are deserving of their place.
Yamal had a brilliant season, as did Cubarsi, especially in the World Cup. Warren Zaire-Emery was influential for Paris Saint Germain in midfield. He was one of the most talented players over the course of the season. The only player who should have been below Diomande in the rankings but wasn't was Karl. Diomande was better than Karl, but if he's fifth, then he should have finished fourth. That is not really that big of a robbery as fans have been talking about on social media.
The truth is that Diomande can finish in the top three, even top two, this season, but to say he was robbed of a much higher place than fifth is a bit extreme. Yes, he should have finished above Karl, but that is as far as it goes for Diomande for last season. Zaire-Emery was the better player out of these two, as were Cubarsi and Yamal, which is tough for Real Madrid fans to admit, but it is the truth.
That is not taking anything away from this season, though, because Diomande is performing at a very high level, and he is definitely one of the favourites to win it this time around. Whether that happens or not, only time will tell, but Diomande should not worry about banking on last season too much because he's already much better than that now.
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