ARSENAL legend Thierry Henry has revealed his pick to win the next Ballon d’Or.
The French icon made his mind up after watching Real Madrid beat Liverpool in last night’s Champions League final.
Vinicius Jr scored the only goal of the game as Los Blancos scooped their 14th European Cup.
Thibaut Courtois put in a stunning performance as Jurgen Klopp’s men were left frustrated in front of goal.
But it was a player up the other end of the pitch who impressed Gunners hero Henry throughout this season’s competition.
Karim Benzema netted a stunning 15 goals on Real’s road to Champions League - just two less than Cristiano Ronaldo’s all-time record from the 2013/14 campaign.
Benzema scored hat-tricks in Real’s comeback wins against Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea, while also firing home in the semi-final victory over Manchester City.
In total, the France international scored 44 goals for Real this term - making him the club’s second all-time leading scorer ahead of Raul.
And Henry is adamant that Benzema must be crowned the next winner of the Ballon d’Or, telling judges to “close the vote” now.
Henry said: “I just wanted to say something to France Football (who give the award) or whoever is voting.
“Close the vote, Benzema won it. Bye!”
Benzema has been at Real Madrid since 2009 after a £35million move from Lyon, where he won four Ligue 1 titles and a French Cup.
He has scored a total of 323 goals in 605 games across 13 seasons at the Bernabeu.
And Benzema has lifted numerous trophies including four LaLiga titles and five Champions Leagues.
However, after being blacklisted by France boss Didier Deschamps between 2015 and 2021, Benzema missed out on his country’s stunning 2018 World Cup win.
Even so, he has still won 94 caps for his country, scoring 36 times.
And since returning to the fold last year, Benzema has netted nine times in 13 games for France.
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