Steven Gerrard insists his former Liverpool and England team-mate Michael Owen was better than Kylian Mbappe and Lamine Yamal as a teenager.
Ballon d'Or race heating upOwen won the awardMbappe and Yamal in contention this yearFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
As the race for the 2025 Ballon d'Or heats up, both Real Madrid and Barcelona have hopefuls in the race with Mbappe and Yamal among the nominees. Yamal is just 18 and hoping to become the youngest player ever to win the Golden Ball. In 1997, Ronaldo won the award at the age of 21.
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Gerrard, though, believes his former club-mate Owen was even better than both nominees when he was a teenager. The former England striker won the Ballon d'Or in 1999, at the age of just 22, and scored 40 goals in 79 games before turning 20.
WHAT GERRARD SAID
Gerrard told : "Well, the other two are chasing the Ballon d'Or and one's got one. So I think you'd have to respect the fact that Michael Owen has been voted the best player in the world.
"I played with him. He was an incredible teenager. So I'd have to say Michael Owen [as the best]. But what I would say is: Mbappé and Lamine Yamal, wow, they're two incredible players."
AFPWHAT NEXT?
The Ballon d'Or ceremony takes place on September 22 in Paris.