Max Eberl Enters Ballon d'Or Debate with Michael Olise
Max Eberl has plunged straight into the Ballon d'Or debate – and he’s done it with a pointed swipe at Lamine Yamal while pushing one of Bayern’s own into the spotlight.
The Bayern Munich sporting director used the aftermath of his team’s 7-0 destruction of Union Berlin to question the way the Barcelona prodigy is talking about the award, and to make it clear he wants no part in what he sees as a PR battle.
Asked in the mixed zone about Yamal’s recent comments on how the Ballon d'Or should be decided, Eberl didn’t bother dressing his words up.
“The best players are those who do not need a promotional campaign,” he said, a line that landed like a direct rebuttal to the noise around the 17-year-old Barça star.
Then he pivoted, sharply, to his own dressing room.
“For me, Michael Olise is also a candidate for the Ballon d'Or. He is one of the best players in the world.”
Olise had just produced a statement performance, hitting a hat-trick in the rout of Union Berlin and giving Eberl the perfect platform to throw his name into an awards race already fuelled by weekly arguments, highlight reels and social media campaigns.
The tension stems from Yamal’s own view of what should define the Ballon d'Or. Speaking to “Movistar Plus”, the Barcelona winger dismissed the idea that sheer numbers in front of goal – the kind of statistics Bayern regularly lean on when backing Harry Kane – should tilt the vote.
“I think the Ballon d'Or should go to the best player in the world, nothing more,” Yamal said. “Not to a player who scored 80 goals, because if you score 80 goals you win the award for top scorer of the year. The two things are completely different, and people don't understand that.”
That argument cuts against the traditional striker narrative and, by extension, against clubs like Bayern who routinely champion their No 9s with goal tallies. Eberl’s response made it clear he’s not interested in being dragged into a public criteria war – at least not on anyone else’s terms.
Instead, he used Yamal’s comments as a springboard: a reminder that Bayern believe they have their own superstar worthy of the game’s most coveted individual prize, and that in Munich’s eyes, Michael Olise doesn’t need a campaign to prove it.
