The London Palladium holds its breath, the envelope opens, and one name echoes through the theatre: Harry Kane. The Bayern Munich striker has just won the Ballon d'Or, beating Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappé and Barcelona's teenage sensation Lamine Yamal. No Englishman has lifted the trophy since Michael Owen in 2001, so a quarter of a century of waiting ends in a single, roaring moment. The history is dizzying.

Kane becomes only the fifth English winner, joining Kevin Keegan and Sir Bobby Charlton on a very short list. The timing adds poetry, too: it is seventy years since Sir Stanley Matthews collected the very first award, and this time the ceremony is being held on home soil. Then politics arrives, fast. A spokesperson for Prime Minister Andy Burnham calls the win "an extraordinary achievement" and says the whole nation will be proud.

Asked directly about a knighthood, she refuses to pre-empt the honours process, which is exactly the kind of answer that sounds like a wink. Burnham cannot award one himself, but ministers, departments and private individuals can all make recommendations to the honours committee, where the broadcaster Sue Barker sits. Precedent complicates the picture. Kane already holds an MBE, earned after England reached the 2018 World Cup semi-finals, and footballers often wait until retirement for a knighthood.