Kane responds to Yamal: I let my football do the talking

The race for the Ballon d'Or heats up

Bayern Munich's Harry Kane has weighed in on the Ballon d'Or race between Barcelona's Lamine Yamal and Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappé.

The England forward spoke after Bayern thumped Union Berlin 7-0 in the Bundesliga on Friday.

Kane said, in comments highlighted by the Spanish newspaper "AS": "I don't want to talk too much about myself. I speak on the pitch. Everyone is different. Lamine Yamal has had a great season, and so has Michael Olise. The Ballon d'Or is not in my control."

Asked about Lamine's remarks, the striker replied: "I don't know the intention behind what he said. He is an amazing player. He has had a great season, like many other players. Mbappé, Michael Olise, Rodri... there are a lot of candidates."

He wrapped up: "Everyone has the right to express their opinion in the way they want. This does not depend on me. As for me, I am enjoying everything that is happening a great deal. I will simply wait to see what happens. I will carry on doing my job on the pitch, and then we will see how things turn out."

Lamine had insisted that goals, the very argument Bayern officials have used to champion Kane, should not decide the Ballon d'Or vote.

The Barcelona star told "Movistar Plus": "I think the Ballon d'Or should go to the best player in the world, nothing more. And not to a player who has scored 80 goals, because if you score 80 goals, you win the top scorer of the year award. The two things are completely different, and people don't understand that."

He added: "The best player in the world is the one you follow during a match as a commentator, and you enjoy watching him. You see him and you think: this is a player who is clearly different from all the others."