How Kane's Ballon d'Or win could boost the Bundesliga

Harry Kane's Ballon d'Or win not only ended a 25-year wait for an English winner of the award but also saw a Bundesliga player win it for the first time since 1996. Harry Kane is the first English winner of the Ballon d'Or since Michael Owen in 2001 England has had to wait a long time for another winner of the Ballon d'Or, with Harry Kane on Monday night becoming the first player from the country to win it for 25 years. But his success has also been celebrated in Germany with the Bayern Munich striker ending their even longer run without a player from the Bundesliga lifting the coveted trophy.

The last to do so was Matthias Sammer back in 1996 after he had captained Borussia Dortmund to two successive Bundesliga titles. "Just as Bayern and the Bundesliga benefit from Kane, the reverse is also true," Lothar Matthaus, the most capped German player of all time and 1991 Ballon d'Or winner, said. "I don't think Kane would've won the Ballon d'Or at any other club he could've joined. He's developed further at Bayern and matured even more. "He's become a better player there, as he himself said in his speech. At Bayern, he won his very first title, with more to follow – and now he's fulfilled a lifelong