Kylian Mbappé insists there is no tension with Ousmane Dembélé over Ballon d'Or | OneFootball

Kylian Mbappé moved to cool talk of a rift with Ousmane Dembélé over the Ballon d'Or as France began their first camp under new head coach Zinédine Zidane at Clairefontaine on Monday.

"I have already spoken with him, there is no tension, he is a friend. There is no real problem about that," he told L'Équipe.

"Some years I considered I was the best player in the world. When Messi or Cristiano won, I said the best player is on the stage. For others, even with a Ballon d'Or, I would never swap with him," he told France Football on 11 September. The award will be presented on 26 October in London.

"In my whole career I have not talked, I have worked a lot. I have never been the chosen one, but I worked, and last year I was rewarded with a fantastic year with Paris SG. This year we will see, no pressure," Dembélé told Ligue 1+ two days later.

"Zizou was the first to take me to Real Madrid's training centre. I was 13 or 14, so it feels like an eternity. And today he is my national team coach. It looks like a film!" Mbappé told AS. "It is great, and it is real, we are starting a new phase in France, we have two years to prepare the Euros and that is what we will set about doing."

France now prepare four Nations League matches, in Türkiye on 25 September and in Belgium on 28 September, then against Italy and Belgium at the Stade de France on 2 and 5 October.

Source: Le Progres

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