Declan Rice admits there’s a player he wants to win the Ballon d’Or ahead of his Arsenal teammates

Arsenal have three players in the final shortlist for the Ballon d’Or this year.

William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes and Declan Rice have been nominated for the award after their stellar performances over the past year.

The trio have made up the best defensive unit in Europe and were pivotal in Arsenal becoming Premier League champions.

Speaking to Sky Sports after Arsenal’s 1-0 win at Napoli on Wednesday night, Rice shared who he would like to see win it.

“Yeah for sure, I think second year in a row nominated it’s obviously really good. Really proud,” he said. “Obviously you know who I want to win it — I would love to see Harry Kane win it. So yeah, I’m wishing him all the best in that.”

It won’t sit well with all Arsenal fans that Rice is effectively backing a Tottenham legend here, but you can understand it.

Kane is Rice’s England captain and close friend, and unlike the Arsenal trio, he is among the favourites to win the award.

The Bayern Munich striker has been outstanding for both club and country, scoring 73 goals across the 2025-26 season.

You can’t argue with numbers like that, as much as we would like to.

The field feels wider and more open than it has in previous years, but Kane’s closest competitors will likely be Kylian Mbappe, Rodri, Lamine Yamal, Lionel Messi, and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.

As for Rice, he’s been backed for a top 10 finish by former Barcelona defender Gerard Pique. If he does manage that, it would make him the first Arsenal player to achieve that since Cesc Fabregas in 2007. That alone would be a pretty remarkable achievement.

The Ballon d’Or ceremony takes place on Monday, 26 October, in London.