Hint at Lamine Yamal and Ousmane Dembele? Barcelona and PSG legend to play key role at Ballon d’Or

The 2025 Ballon d’Or ceremony will take place Monday in Paris, where the best player in the world over the past season will be crowned. Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal and Paris Saint-Germain star Ousmane Dembele appear to be the two leading contenders to take home the prestigious trophy.

For weeks, speculation has swirled around the idea that the award from France Football magazine is likely to go to one of those two, based on their individual performances and the success of their respective teams. Perhaps aligned with that possibility is the decision about who will present the trophy to the winner.

According to El Partidazo de Cope, Ronaldinho will be the one to carry the Ballon d’Or and hand it to the newly crowned best player in the world, once their name is revealed during Monday’s ceremony at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.

The choice of the Brazilian legend may be purely coincidental — or it could be an intentional move to add an emotional touch to this year’s ceremony. If either Dembele or Yamal ends up winning, the logic behind that choice would make perfect sense.

Ronaldinho of Barcelona kisses his mother as he holds the Ballon D’Or award for Footballer of the Year on December 11, 2005.

Ronaldinho is more than qualified to take on the honor of presenting the trophy to the world’s best player. He won the Ballon d’Or in 2005 — a decision that was widely agreed upon in the soccer world, given the magic he displayed on the pitch at the time.

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