Emmanuel Petit has delivered a blunt verdict on Harry Kane's Ballon d'Or hopes: as far as the 1998 World Cup winner is concerned, they are already over, because the Bayern Munich striker vanished at the exact moments the award is supposed to be won or lost.
"In the Champions League and with the national team, when it started to be really hard to win, I think he disappeared," Petit said, in comments first carried in Israel by ONE and picked up widely across the European football press this week as the buildup to October's ceremony intensifies.
It is a harsh reading of a season in which Kane was, statistically, one of the most productive strikers in Europe. He scored 61 goals in 51 appearances in all competitions for Bayern, dragging the club to a domestic double of the Bundesliga title and the German Cup.
What eluded him again was the Champions League. Bayern were beaten by Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-finals, losing the first leg 5-4 in Paris before a 1-1 draw in the return sent PSG through 6-5 on aggregate. Kane's equaliser in that second leg arrived in stoppage time, too late to matter.
His summer with England followed a similar arc. Kane finished the World Cup as the Three Lions' leading scorer, but England's run ended in the semi-finals, beaten 1-2 by Argentina after Lionel Messi set up both of Lautaro Martínez's and Enzo Fernández's late goals to complete a comeback. Spain went on to beat Argentina in the final to lift the trophy.
For Petit, that pattern of Kane's numbers piling up in the group stages and the regular season while the biggest games slip away is disqualifying. "There are a few names ahead of him," he said, and he did not hesitate when asked to name them.
Lamine Yamal, who Petit said "had a great World Cup," tops his list, alongside Rodri, who he believes "has been the best player again during this World Cup" after Spain's triumph. Both were central to the team that dethroned Argentina in the final.
Messi himself also gets a mention. "He had a great competition, but he plays for Inter Miami," Petit said, a line that captures how much weight some voters still put on a player's club stage alongside their international form.
Petit knows a little about big-tournament pressure himself. He scored the third goal in France's 3-0 win over Brazil in the 1998 World Cup final, part of a career that also took in Monaco, Arsenal, Barcelona and Chelsea.
The Ballon d'Or organisers are due to announce this year's winner in October, with Kane, Yamal, Rodri and Messi all expected to feature prominently in the conversation between now and then.
