The best players of the season 2024-25

Mbappé breaking the record for the most goals in a debut season winning pichichi, European golden shoe and scoring in all Classicos

 

These are my real thoughts on Kylian Mbappe 24/25

I’m not convinced that winning the European golden shoe on its own is a great argument in his favour for the ballon dor.

It wasn’t for Harry Kane last season and their champions league campaigns were not so different(maybe Kane in the UCL 23/24 was even better)

Being the record goalscorer in a debut season for Real Madrid isn’t aswell

It was not for Ivan Zamorano(who’s record he broke)
Zamorano scored 0 penalties in the season he set the record
https://www.transfermarkt.com/ivan-zamorano/elfmetertore/spieler/129083
https://www.transfermarkt.com/ivan-zamorano/elfmetertore/spieler/129083#google_vignette

and you can check where he finished in the 1993 ballon dor
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_Ballon_d'Or
literally 0 votes


The Ballon dor is for all players in Europe and for the record to be meaningful it would have to be an all time record
Like Ronaldo nazario in 1996/97(he is the real highest goalscorer for a debutant season and he played 49 games which is still considerably less than Mbappe 24/25)


Just for some added perspective about those ‘extra games’ he has been benefiting from

Kylian Mbappe 24/25 has played more games this season than Ronaldo nazario ever did and more than Cristiano ever did in a single club season(all comps)


With this Club World Cup thing coming up,if he goes really far with Real Madrid he will end up playing more games in a single season than Lionel Messi ever did(his record was 60 games played in 2011/12)

So if the number of goals is your argument then you need to put his goals into perspective

If the number of goals he scored is not your argument but the importance of his goals is


He does not even lead for match winning goals in La Liga this season

He is tied 2nd with Robert lewandowski who has been injured for sometime
https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/laliga/gamewinners/wettbewerb/ES1
Robert lewandowski 24/25 is not a real ballon dor contender

Now if we move onto his ‘major highlights’

Barcelonas defensive record has been atrociously bad for a title winning team(even conceding more goals than Real Madrid by the way)

Several players have scored hattricks against Barcelona this season(even ones you wouldn’t consider to be special)

To score multiple goals against this version of Barcelona is not as meaningful as you think it is

What is left is his hattrick against Manchester City in the CL R16 and City have had their worst season since the Middle Eastern takeover 15+ years ago
That’s a fact and not my opinion

His hattricks against these teams are the real highlights of his season and they don’t really pass the test of scrutiny IMO

If goals are no longer your argument (at all)and it his all round play
Mbappe is really not comparable to Lamine Yamal

Only 3 assists for Mbappe if I’m not mistaken(he is a striker now)

And things like dribbles/chances created let’s not even go there

◉ Best rated player
◉ Most assists
◉ Most dribbles
◉ Most big chances created

It was only right that Lamine Yamal's goal and assist clinched La Liga for Barcelona last night.@BenMcAleer1 looks at the numbers behind the 17-year-old's ridiculous season. 👇

— WhoScored (@WhoScored) May 16, 2025

The mountain is to big for him to overcome this season

The things that you and many others ‘love’ Neymar for Lamine Yamal has already equalled

5 - Most dribbles completed by LaLiga players in a single season since 14/15 in all competitions:

🇦🇷 Lionel Messi - 307 in 14/15
🇦🇷 Lionel Messi - 260 in 19/20
🇦🇷 Lionel Messi - 253 in 17/18
🇧🇷 Neymar Jr - 239 in 16/17
🇪🇸 LAMINE YAMAL - 239 in 24/25.

Spectacular. pic.twitter.com/qTCrTiUeva

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) May 20, 2025

And Yamal still has a game to play
And Neymar 16/17 did not produce more non penalty G/A for Barcelona than Yamal has this season

So we need to be consistent here


Only thing that would’ve made Mbappe a realistic ballon dor contender(even without real major trophies)is if he was scoring at a historical rate or if he progressed further in the UCL and made a big difference in that competition(1 great game against a poor Manchester City is not enough)


What is left is the finals he scored in (earlier in the season)

i am not convinced at all that a player should be given any credit for scoring in finals that he literally had no input in reaching

Real Madrid were in those finals because of what they did in 2023/24

This will not impact the ballon dor voting process i suspect but there is also damning evidence that despite his goals he has not improved his teams

Real Madrid scored more goals last season than they did with Mbappe this season

PSG have scored more goals this season than they did with Mbappe last season

Real Madrid won the UCL last season without Mbappe

PSG might win the UCL this season without Mbappe

These are all facts.

 

Isn't that specifically a Real Madrid record? Either way, i'm not particularly sure why that should matter much in an otherwise barren season, against players who've won much more, been more consistent, and arguably hit similar or higher peaks this year.

That is not a thing that happened.


People talk a lot about the upcoming Club World Cup serving as a potential tiebreaker, but the Nations League final stages in early June are probably a similar or greater opportunity for players involved to put some extra gloss over their season. It's certainly more of a known quantity at this point.

 

Correlation does not imply causality. Real Madrid lost Kroos, Nacho, Carvajal, Militão and several other players to injury, which forced the midfielders to play in defence, which in turn weakened the defence (without proper defenders) and also the midfield (without a controller like Kroos, without a box to box like Valverde who had to go to the RB and isn't as great as Carvajal there). With Tchouameni as a CB which is a nightmare. But let's blame the player who scored 42 goals in the season, in all finals and El Classicos in his own. Remember when Ronaldo became to ManUtd in 21/22 and the fans were saying Ronaldo was the problem cause he were old and didn't press when he were carrying ManUtd in his shoulders in the CL group stages and scoring hat trick against Tottenham. This is what you're sounding like.

PSG is another thing. Yeah I think Mbappé getting out of the team has to do with the improvement of the team but so has Neymar and Messi's. What improved this team was not playing around one star player. Instead it's playing as a collective team strictly following Luis Enrique's game plan. This was not possible with a superstar like Mbappé, Messi or Neymar. Now let's follow your logic: PSG had reached the final and semi-final in 19/20 and 20/21 without Messi. Then with the arrival of Messi, PSG was eliminated in the round of 16 in 21/22 and 22/23. So with Messi's departure, PSG reached the semi-finals again with Messi's departure in 23/24. So Messi is to blame, right?

 

Cristiano Ronaldo was not a ballon dor contender in 2021/22
Not according to me and not according to anyone

And reaching the CL semi final is not a trophy
Maybe for Arsenal it is but not in reality

Whether Messi improved PSG or not is not really all that relevant
His peak was at Barcelona

We are witnessing Mbappe in his peak(he is 26 years old and Messi was in his mid 30s)

The 2019/20 final run was off Neymars back
Mbappé had his least impressive CL campaign that season


Nobody is blaming Mbappe for scoring 42 goals this season(you are on the defensive)

All i am suggesting is those 42 goals on closer inspection do not make him a realistic ballon dor contender
Those goals alone don’t necessarily make him the best player of the 2024/25 season and I gave my reasons for that

Nor did he did he produce amazing non goalscoring statistics
The only thing he has to fall back on is the number of goals he scored in a nearly unprecedented number of games

Not the importance of his goals nor the quality of his play/performances

 

Okay, Mbappé at laliga this season has the most:
MOTM (15)
goals (31)
G/A (32)
2nd most dribbles (82)
Goals from out of box (5)
6th most big chances created (15) only striker in the top 10
most goals in all comps from players of top 5 leagues (43)
Goals in all finals he played (4/4)
5 goals in 4 games vs Barça
He broke the record for most goals scored by a real Madrid player in a debut season
He broke the record for most goals scored in a top 4 European league season by a frenech player held by Henry 03/04 with 30 goals. Now Mbappé has 31.

 

Maybe this will help you here

Harry Kane 23/24 won the European golden shoe in his debut season

Kylian Mbappe 24/25 will win the European golden shoe in his debut season

———————————

Harry Kane 23/24 finished as top scorer in last season’s champions league


Kylian Mbappe 24/25 finished 6 goals behind this seasons CL top goalscorer

————————————-



Harry Kane 23/24 lost the title to a team that went unbeaten and conceded 24 goals


Kylian Mbappe 24/25 lost the title to a team that was just as beatable(6 games lost) as any team in La Ligas top 5 and one that conceded almost 40 goals(with still a game to play)

———————————-


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Ballon dors are not awarded for scoring the most goals out the box and the Thierry Henry 03/04 comparison I wont even go into in any real depth

All I will say is

Thierry Henry 03/04 actually won the premiership unbeaten(he was also a really vastly superior defender to Mbappe by the way)

Thierry Henry 03/04 provided significantly more assists

And crucially Thierry Henry did not win the ballon dor

 

I'm not saying he was. I'm saying it's not Mbappé's fault that Real Madrid scored less goals this season than the last. Also, I'm not arguing Mbappé have a case to be a ballon d'Or contender. I'm saying he deserves at least to be in the top 5. The true contenders for me are Dembelé and Raphinha. But Dembelé has a clear advantage since he is in the final and is the most standout player of PSG. Also inter doesn't have a player who is significantly ahead of others. The best player of f semifinals were Dumfries. Or maybe Sommer, Lautaro is scoring a lot but looks like just fulfilling his role as he doesn't stands out of other strikers like Kane, Mbappé or Lewa. He were outscored by Retegui in série A. Barella is one of the best player but I don't know if the best of his team. On PSG Dembelé is by a decent margin the best player of the team

 

Kane did it in the Bundesliga. Lewandowski set the record for most goals scored in Bundesliga in 20/21 and didn't win. Cause the league strength is a highe factor here. Also Haaland broke all records in 22/23 and didn't won cause it were a world cup year. 23/24 Real won a double and the protagonism of Real Madrid were divided in Bellingham being by a country mile the best player in the world until the Christmas and then Vini came back from injury and decided all important games of the acute phase of the season winning CL + LaLiga. As the protagonism were divided and Rodri won the Euros and that narrative of ManCity not losing in the normal time with him on the pitch he ended winning.

 

We agree overall anyways


Kylian Mbappe 24/25 does not deserve nor does he stand a realistic chance of actually winning the ballon dor but he does have a very strong case to finish in the top 5

The impressive number of goals he scored almost guarantees that and his ‘reputation’ and popularity will almost certainly guarantee that.

 

Awards are just a popularity contest + narrative.

The narrative is usually to award the prize to whoever won the UCL or the World Cup.

If PSG win the UCL and we follow the criteria normally used to choose the best in the world (narrative), the award goes to Dembelé. The main attacking player for the UCL champions. This is the criterion of narrative.

If PSG don't win the UCL final, Yamal's candidature will gain strength, as he is the most popular player of 2024-25.

Mbappe has had a good season, perhaps a little underestimated because they expected more from him. Mbappe 2024/25 vs Salah 24/25 is not as far away as it seems. Yes, Salah's G+A was superior, and Salah was champion. But Mbappe has played fewer games, took fewer penalties and is a far superior dribbler. Salah's season was better, but not that much better.

But none of them fit the parameters of popularity and narrative.

 

I disagree that this version of Mbappe is a far superior dribbler to Salah(better yes but far superior is an exaggeration)

Lamine Yamal is a “far superior dribbler” and so is Jeremy Doku(even with his limited amount of minutes played)

If you weigh in assists since you are apparently a huge fan of playmaking forwards

Salah 24/25 in the EPL is really in a different dimension to Mbappe in La Liga

Salah literally has 6x more assists than Mbappe in league football.

not 2x as many
6 times as many

Salah scored many penalty goals but so did Mbappe and his recent rebound penalty goal should really not count as an open play goal either (in my opinion anyways)

1-0 REAL MADRID

KYLIAN MBAPPE MISSES THE PENALTY, BUT HE SCORES THE REBOUND !!!!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/ui2MephmwA

— The Screenshot Lad (@thescreenlad) May 24, 2025

if there was ever a goal ‘inferior’ to a penalty it would be this type of goal.

 

Now the the national leagues are finally over, this is the top 10 average ratings from SofaScore in the top 5 European leagues:

Joshua Kimmich 7.91
Michael Olise 7.91
Raphinha 7.80
Lamine Yamal 7.79
Mohammed Salah 7.78
Achraf Hakimi 7.76
Harry Kane 7.73
Kylian Mbappé 7.70
Florian Wirtz 7.68
Cole Palmer 7.63

WhoScored:

Lamine Yamal 8.01
Kylian Mbappé 7.75
Michael Olise 7.74
Harry Kane 7.72
Ousmane Dembele 7.65
Raphinha 7.62
Mohammed Salah 7.61
Jamal Musiala 7.56
Florian Wirtz 7.50
Joshua Kimmich 7.38

 

You forgot Fotmob

Yamal 8.04
Salah 8.00
Olise 7.99
Mbappe 7.98
Kimmich 7.93
Hakimi 7.91
Dembele 7.91
Raphina 7.90
Kane 7.86
Pedri 7.78

Seven players who appear in the three teams: Yamal, Salah, Olise, Mbape, Raphina, Kane, Kimmich.

Only one defence player on those lists (Hakimi)

I don't disagree with you, just on the dribbling part. Mbappe made 2.4 against Salah's 1.5. That's 60 per cent more.

 

Mohammed Salah in the 2024/25 season

 

G+A in the League + CL

Only including players with a minimum of 2700 minutes played(equivalent of 30 matches) and the data is taken from transfermarket


Viktor Gyökeres 24/25
45 goals + 8 assists in 3410 minutes
1.40 goals + assists per 90



Ousmane Dembelé 24/25
29 goals + 12 assists in 2812 minutes
1.32 goals + assists per 90



Harry Kane 24/25
37 goals + 12 assists in 3510 minutes
1.25 goals + assists per 90



Mohammed Salah 24/25
32 goals + 22 assists in 4189 minutes
1.16 goals + assists per 90



Raphinha 24/25
31 goals+20 assists in 4064 minutes
1.13 goals + assists per 90


Omar marmoush 24/25
22 goals + 12 assists in 2735 minutes
1.12 goals + assists per 90



Serhou Guirassy 24/25
34 goals + 9 assists in 3686 minutes
1.05 goals + assists per 90



Alexander isak 24/25
26 goals + 6 assists in 2774 minutes
1.03 goals + assists per 90



Kylian Mbappe 24/25
38 goals + 4 assists in 4050 minutes played
0.93 goals + assists per 90



Vinicius Jr
19 goals + 13 assists in 3363 minutes
0.87 goals + assists per 90


Florian writz 24/25
16 goals + 14 assists in 3122 minutes
0.86 goals + assists per 90



Erling Haaland 24/25
30 goals+ 3 assists in 3514 minutes
0.84 goals + assists per 90



Lamine Yamal 24/25
14 goals+19 assists in 3967 minutes
0.75 goals + assists per 90





He has been completely unplayable this season


the last time a player has looked this devastating in one of Europe’s second tier leagues was Luis Suarez 2009/10 and we all saw the career he went onto have in the EPL and La Liga

he is as direct as peak Suarez,just as fast but even more powerful and arguably an even better ball carrier

Suarez more technical of course but whoever gets this player will walk the league next season

 

Average from the 3 algorythms (only players who are top 10 on the three):
Lamine Yamal 7.947
Michael Olise 7.880
Kylian Mbappé 7.810
Mohamed Salah 7.797
Raphinha 7.773
Harry Kane 7.770
Joshua Kimmich 7.740

 

Although I have not yet sat down to analyze the season in detail, I can make a small outline of what, in my opinion, have been the best in the Spanish league 2024-25. Although the season of Lamine Yamal has been apoteósica, the performance of Pedri has not been less. After them, once again, Isco, recovered from the hole he crossed, in the Betis has taken out the huge football that he carries in his boots. A little behind would place Raphinha and Mbappé; the first one lowered his excellent season at the end, while the French has been short of the championship, because it has gone from less to more. After them, I think the following have stood out: Vivian, Íñigo Martínez, Joan García, Baena, Valverde and Ayoze. I think that others have had a more than remarkable season, although some of them have not had too much continuity or even have not been undisputed headlines; there would be Dani Olmo, Sancet, Courtois, Fermín, Antony, Cubarsí, Berenguer, Batalla, Raúl Moro, Bellingham, Oblak, Asencio, Kubo, Dani Raba, Moleiro, Fabio Silva, Iago Aspas, Bartra, Marcos Alonso and some others that I will surely forget now. Probably Eric Garcia, Koundé, Dmitrovic and Lewandovski also deserve a mention in this previous list. From what I am, to a certain extent, sure, at "naked view", I would say that the top 5 of the championship would be Lamine Yamal, Pedri, Isco, Mbappé and Raphinha, not necessarily in this order. I will try to apply myself and not take long to offer more objective and adjusted data.

Aunque todavía no me he sentado a analizar con detenimiento la temporada, sí que puedo hacer un pequeño esbozo de los que, a mi juicio, han sido los mejores de la liga española 2024-25. Aunque la temporada de Lamine Yamal ha sido apoteósica, el rendimiento de Pedri no lo ha sido menos. Tras ellos, una vez más, Isco, recuperado del bache que atravesó, en el Betis ha vuelto a sacar el enorme fútbol que lleva en sus botas. Un poquito por detrás situaría a Raphinha y a Mbappé; el primero bajó un poco su excelente temporada al final, mientras que al francés se le ha quedado corto el campeonato, pues ha ido de menos a más. Tras ellos, me parece que han sobresalido los siguientes: Vivian, Íñigo Martínez, Joan García, Baena, Valverde y Ayoze. Pienso que otros han tenido una más que notable temporada, a pesar de que, algunos de ellos no han tenido demasiada continuidad o incluso no han sido titulares indiscutibles; Ahí estarían Dani Olmo, Sancet, Courtois, Fermín, Antony, Cubarsí, Berenguer, Batalla, Raúl Moro, Bellingham, Oblak, Asencio, Kubo, Dani Raba, Moleiro, Fabio Silva, Iago Aspas, Bartra, Marcos Alonso y alguno más que seguramente olvide ahora. Seguramente Eric García, Koundé, Dmitrovic y Lewandovski también merecen una mención en esta lista previa. De lo que sí estoy, hasta cierto punto, seguro, a “simple vista” diría que el top 5 del campeonato sería Lamine Yamal, Pedri, Isco, Mbappé y Raphinha, no necesariamente en este orden. Intentaré aplicarme y no tardar mucho en ofrecer datos más objetivos y ajustados.

 

👕✨ The UEFA Technical Observer Group has selected its 2024/25 UEFA Europa League Team of the Season...#UEL | @UEFA pic.twitter.com/lSCJXad6T9

— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) May 22, 2025

🏆 UEFA Europa League Player of the Season: Cristian Romero! 👏#UEL | @SpursOfficial pic.twitter.com/lzP811sQCA

— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) May 22, 2025

👕✨ The UEFA Technical Observer Group has selected its 2024/25 UEFA Conference League Team of the Season...#UECL pic.twitter.com/XnZGaAlahv

— UEFA Conference League (@Conf_League) May 29, 2025

🏆 UEFA Conference League Player of the Season: Isco! 🟢⚪️#UECL @RealBetis pic.twitter.com/MPSmn5DB3x

— UEFA Conference League (@Conf_League) May 29, 2025

 

KVARA

tskhelia

 

My Top 23 of the season and podium. The podium has no clear winner in my eyes. Yamal was the best in the biggest matches, Salah was the most consistent, Dembele the star player for the decisive cl winners. Pedri and Vitinha were the two key midfielders on the two most accomplished teams.

2024-25

Dembeele, Osmane (PSG, France)
Doue, Desire (PSG, France)
Gravenberch, Ryan (Liverpool, Netherlands)
Gyokeres, Viktor (Sporting CP, Sweden)
Hakimi, Achraf (PSG, Morocco)
Isak, Alexander (Newcastle, Sweden)
Kane, Harry (Bayern Munich, England)
Kimmich, Joshua (Bayern Munich, Germany)
Kvaratskhelia, Khvicha (Napoli, PSG, Georgia)
Lewandowski, Robert (Barcelona, Poland)
MacAllister, Alexis (Liverpool, Argentina)
Mbappe, Kylian (Real Madrid, France)
McTominay, Scott (Napoli, Scotland)
Mendes, Nuno (PSG, Portugal)
Neves, Joao (PSG, Portugal)
Olise, Michael (Bayern Munich, France)
Pedri (Barcelona, Spain)
Raphinha (Barcelona, Brazil)
Rice, Declan (Arsenal, England)
Salah, Mohamed (Liverpool, Egypt)
van Dijk, Virgil (Liverpool, Netherlands)
Vitinha (PSG, Portugal)
Yamal, Lamine (Barcelona, Spain)

Podium: 1) Yamal 2) Salah 3) Dembele
Contenders: Pedri, Vitinha

Honorable Mention: Alisson, Palmer, Bellingham, Vinicius, Alvarez, Thuram, Lukaku, Keane, Bastoni, Wirtz, Ruiz, Cherki

 

🏆 UEFA Champions League Player of the Season: Ousmane Dembélé! 👏#UCL | @PSG_inside pic.twitter.com/1BQFl4Ficf

— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) June 1, 2025