The 2026 Ballon d’Or took centre stage in London on Monday night, with England captain Harry Kane taking home the main crown.

West Ham fans might have seen Kane snubbing Nuno Espirito Santo by not mentioning him when listing his former coaches who have helped him in his career.

But should the Bayern Munich star, who scored 61 club goals last season, have won the 2026 Ballon d’Or? Because Gabby Agbonlahor doesn’t think so, and he used Niclas Fullkrug as a reason why.

Fullkrug flopped at West Ham, but since returning to Germany and now playing for Werder Bremen, he has found his goalscoring boots.

West Ham flop Niclas Fullkrug is the reason why Harry Kane shouldn’t have won 2026 Ballon d’Or

Agbonlahor didn’t hold back in what Fullkrug was like at West Ham, telling talkSPORT that he was a ‘nail of a striker’ and a player who was ‘stiff’ when he put on the Hammers shirt.

The former Aston Villa striker went in on one of West Ham’s worst-ever signings by adding that he ‘couldn’t even walk, never mind run.’

But despite the German’s struggles at the London Stadium, he is now scoring for fun in the Bundesliga, and Agbonlahor explained that it proves that Germany’s top tier is a ‘Mickey Mouse’ league.

If that’s the case, for Agbonlahor, that puts a cloud over Kane’s Ballon d’Or win, as he feels Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappe should have won it instead.

“Remember Niclas Füllkrug, remember that nail of a striker,” said Agbonlahor. “He has scored eight goals in seven appearances in the Bundesliga with Werder Bremen.

“What I am saying is that for West Ham, he scored three in 26. Are we looking at the Bundesliga as the Mickey Mouse league? Yeah, (Lewandowski) is a top player, but he didn’t win it.

“If I am looking at it like, who entertains me more? It’s Mbappe. What I am saying is that nobody stood out in the Champions League or the World Cup. Fantastic (Kane’s goals). Mbappe was the top scorer in the Champions League and the World Cup. He’s a top, top player.

“Should it be what you won or how you played as a player? Is it an individual award or a team award? Bayern Munich win it every year.

“Harry Kane has been outstanding. The goals he has scored and the performances he has put in. But people will say, ‘Mmmm, Bundesliga, didn’t win the Champions League. Didn’t do much with England at the World Cup.’

“The journalists who are voting might say, ‘Mmmm, Bundesliga. You have Niclas Füllkrug scoring eight in seven.’ You couldn’t even walk, never mind run at West Ham; he’s that stiff. The German league is poor.”

Fullkrug and Kane’s numbers in the Bundesliga

First of all, on Agbonlahor’s point, just because Fullkrug is scoring goals in the Bundesliga, it doesn’t mean Kane shouldn’t be a Ballon d’Or winner.

Yes, the English Premier League is far better than its German counterpart, but Kane scored for fun when he was in England.

So if Kane were still in the Premier League today, he would still be racking up the big numbers; he just wouldn’t be winning anything because he would be playing for Tottenham.

It’s crazy that Fullkrug has now scored in six games in a row, including a brace in his last game as Werder Bremen beat Mainz 3-2.

Werder, who narrowly survived relegation last season, are now sitting sixth in the table, and Fullkrug has so far played a key role.

But West Ham supporters won’t forgive Julen Lopetegui for signing Fullkrug, because he was a nightmare from the day he arrived.

Debate all day long as to whether Kane is deserving of the Ballon d’Or. One thing that will forever remain is that Fullkrug should never have signed for West Ham, and will go down as one of the worst strikers of the modern era.

By the way, given the absolutely painful nonsense the Hammers have signed over the years, that is some achievement for Fullkrug.