Mbappé, Dembélé and the Ballon d'Or: tension worrying France ahead of squad gathering

A week before France’s first squad gathering at Clairefontaine under Zinedine Zidane, emerging tension between Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé is making headlines for the Blues. The two men, France’s leading Ballon d’Or candidates, have exchanged veiled jabs in the media in recent days.

It all started on Saturday in France Football, where France captain Kylian Mbappé made a striking remark: “He has always been seen as a talented player. Me, I have always been seen as the chosen one.” The next evening, following Paris Saint-Germain’s victory at Brest, Ousmane Dembélé appeared to respond directly. “I have always been at the back of the class working hard,” said the PSG playmaker. “Throughout my entire career, I haven’t said a word, I’ve worked enormously. I was never the chosen one, but I worked and last year I was rewarded with a fantastic year with Paris-SG. This year, we’ll see, without pressure, relaxed.”

Dembélé’s choice of words did not escape analyst Walid Acherchour, who sees it as a deliberate response. “I’m convinced that Ousmane Dembélé could have taken it personally,” he said. “Repeating the same phrase as Kylian Mbappé… He didn’t do it casually.” Acherchour had also noted Mbappé’s initial comments, in which the France captain stated he would not have traded his career for those of recent Ballon d’Or winners, a formulation that Dembélé could have interpreted as an allusion to his own triumph last season.

For the analyst, the sequence goes beyond simple communication and could leave marks on the France squad. “It could be a problem for the French team,” he warned, predicting the subject would come up again in the coming days.

Zinedine Zidane, about to oversee his first gathering as manager, inherits a sensitive matter before even bringing his players together. Managing the egos of two stars from the same club in a national dressing room will be one of his first challenges at the helm of the Blues.