Harry Kane became the first Englishman in 25 years to win the Ballon d'Or on Monday night, but the Bayern Munich star's achievement wasn't welcomed by everyone

Harry Kane did not deserve to be crowned as the best player in the world because he doesn't make the difference in big games, according to Samir Nasri.

Kane won the Ballon d'Or on Monday night at an awards ceremony in London, becoming the first Englishman in 25 years to claim the award. The Bayern Munich and England star came out ahead of Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe and Barcelona's Lamine Yamal in the voting.

Kane scored 73 goals for club and country last season, leading Bayern to a domestic double and the semi-finals of the Champions League, as well as spearheading England’s run to the World Cup semis.

His moment on stage was widely celebrated as deserved recognition for an extraordinary achievement. But former Manchester City and France midfielder Nasri had a very different reaction.

"Harry Kane, Ballon d'Or... OK, the statistics made the difference," he said on Canal+. "He's a fantastic player with so many qualities. But he's never been the player who carried his team somewhere or made his team win in the very big matches. There's often a slight weakness. But he's an extraordinary player."

Asked if he was not excited by Kane's win, Nasri replied: "No, that's an understatement!"

Kane's tally of 61 goals in 51 games for Bayern last season is the most by a player in a single campaign in the German club's history. Including his tally with England, he managed 73 goals and eight assists in 65 matches.

Despite his individual brilliance, Bayern were beaten by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League semi-finals, while England fell at the same stage at the World Cup against Argentina.

Make sure you don't miss sport's biggest stories and breaking news by making the Daily Mirror one of your Google preferred sources.

France legend Thierry Henry was one of the presenters at the ceremony and had a classy message for Kane after he beat Mbappe to the prize.

“I would always back my fellow Frenchmen but I have to say something about Harry Kane," he said. "I have seen him since the beginning. He had to suffer really hard to achieve what he has achieved. A worthy winner, well done.”

That suffering was touched upon by Kane himself. "Not many people would have thought it, and maybe even I wouldn't have thought I'd be this far," he told DAZN.

"I had to go through many ups and downs, especially early in my career. I was never the person that people thought was going to be the superstar like some of the guys now.

"I had to bide my time and work hard, a lot of times it was me against my own mind and I had to come through it, I had to show self-belief, determination. I think that grounded me even when I did make it at the highest level to keep improving and keep getting better."

Join our WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.