Rothen to Mbappé after Ballon d'Or campaign: "Shut up, nobody thinks you were the best"

Kylian Mbappé launched his Ballon d’Or campaign in a press conference, claiming he deserved the award and announcing he would vote for himself. A statement that immediately provoked a reaction from sports consultant Jérôme Rothen.

“Everything is calculated in his communication,” said the former attacking midfielder, visibly unconvinced by the Real Madrid striker’s approach. Rothen first tried to make sure it wasn’t a joke — “Is his interview tongue-in-cheek?” — before concluding that Mbappé was perfectly serious.

His message to the French international is unambiguous: “I don’t recall those who won the Ballon d’Or in recent years demanding it as much as he does. Kylian, nobody thinks you were the best player in the world last season. When you haven’t won a trophy of the year: shut up.”

Rothen’s argument rests on a factual observation: Mbappé won no major trophies during the past season, neither with his club nor with the France national team. A drought that places him as an outsider in the Ballon d’Or race, far behind the main favorites Harry Kane and Lamine Yamal.

Nevertheless, Mbappé chose to dominate the media landscape on the eve of Real Madrid’s campaign resumption, an offensive communication strategy that, according to Rothen, risks mainly fueling criticism about his ego rather than influencing journalists’ votes.