Mbappé Addresses Rumors of Rift with Dembélé Over Ballon d'Or Comments
What began as a sharp line in a magazine interview has turned into a minor storm around France’s two brightest attacking stars. Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé, once side by side at PSG and now reunited with the national team, have spent the past few days at the centre of speculation about a possible rift.
Mbappé has now moved to kill the story.
It started on 11 September, in an interview with France Football. Asked about his chances of winning the Ballon d’Or, to be awarded on 26 October in London, the Real Madrid forward drew a clear distinction between his own rise and Dembélé’s more turbulent path.
“He has always been considered a talented player. I have always been seen as the chosen one. I was at the top from the start. He had a different path, injuries, but he recovered well,” Mbappé said, in comments that quickly ricocheted around France and beyond.
The phrase “the chosen one” stuck.
Two days later, Dembélé answered. The current Ballon d’Or holder spoke on Ligue 1+ and, without naming Mbappé, deliberately leaned on the same wording his France teammate had used.
“Throughout my entire career, I haven't said a single word, I have worked very hard. As I said, I have never been the chosen one, but I have worked hard, and last year I was rewarded with a fantastic season at PSG. And this year, we'll see, no pressure, calm.”
The echo was obvious. The timing, just before an international break, only added fuel. By the time the France squad gathered, talk of tension between the two had become the dominant subplot around Didier Deschamps’ group.
Mbappé, though, insists there is nothing there.
Speaking to L’Équipe while attending an event for his new sponsor, the France captain revealed he had already cleared the air with Dembélé and dismissed the idea of any fallout.
“I’ve already talked it over with him and no, there are no tensions. He is a friend. I really think there is no problem at all in that regard, I’m very calm,” the number 10 said.
From Mbappé’s point of view, the flare-up says more about the environment around the national team than about his relationship with his former club teammate.
“During the Nations League period and with the French national team, you always have to look for a topic of debate, and I think this one is very well chosen,” he added, pointing to the way every word around Les Bleus gets amplified.
The Ballon d’Or ceremony in London will tell its own story. For now, Mbappé and Dembélé are back in the same shirt, the same dressing room, chasing the same targets. The only question that really matters for France: which of them will decide the next big night?
