Rothen accused of being on a 'commando mission' against Mbappé after his revelations about Dembélé

Jérôme Rothen finds himself at the centre of a controversy after reporting, Monday evening on his show, that Ousmane Dembélé was taking Kylian Mbappé’s recent comments about the Ballon d’Or as a “betrayal”.

It all stems from tension between the two former France teammates. According to several reports, Mbappé allegedly downplayed the level of his PSG teammates to highlight his own record, comments that Dembélé’s entourage reportedly took very badly. “Ousmane Dembélé took it very badly, that’s certain, he’s very upset with Kylian Mbappé. It’s a form of betrayal for him. The words are strong but that’s exactly how he’s taking it,” Rothen said on air.

The former PSG left-back went further, evoking a malaise that extends beyond Dembélé: “There’s Ousmane’s entire entourage, the people who were in the dressing room with Ousmane at PSG.” He also criticized Mbappé for a form of selectivity in his deference to the Ballon d’Or — bowing to Ronaldo and Messi, but suggesting he could have won the trophy against other winners like Dembélé, Benzema or Modric.

These repeated attacks against Mbappé eventually led to direct accusations against Rothen. On X, influential figure Mohamed Toubache-Ter targeted the host bluntly: “It’s crazy how Rothen has been on a commando mission since he’s been in the doghouse at the Parc… with the sole aim of spitting on Kylian Mbappé.” Before adding, cryptically: “When the truth comes out, I don’t know where this guy will hide.”

The underlying accusation is clear: Rothen, a former player at the capital club, would be instrumentalized — or acting on his own — to weaken Mbappé’s image, now at Real Madrid, in the final stretch of the Ballon d’Or race. Rothen has not yet publicly responded to these accusations.