"Scandalous": PSG slammed over handling of Dembélé situation

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·9 de septiembre de 2025

"Scandalous": PSG slammed over handling of Dembélé situation

Since Friday evening and the injury of Ousmane Dembélé (28-year-old forward) during France's victory against Ukraine (0-2, 2026 World Cup qualifiers), Paris Saint-Germain has highlighted the lack of communication and caution from the Bleus. Not forgetting to mention other previous cases. This has annoyed Christophe Dugarry, the 1998 World Cup champion now a sports consultant. He criticized PSG on RMC Sport.

Dugarry "We know that Dembélé has been fragile for several years."

"I am 100% behind the Federation and Didier Deschamps. We know that Dembélé has been fragile for several years. Now, he gets injured, it's just bad luck. For PSG to explain to me and make me believe that Ousmane Dembélé never played with Paris when he had too much muscle load, I don't believe it for a second. The manipulation that PSG is trying to implement is scandalous, it's not respectful towards the national team and Didier Deschamps.

Dugarry "PSG is solely responsible for Dembélé's workload"

PSG is solely responsible for Dembélé's workload. I understand PSG's disappointment, but the national team is above everything. The coach chooses the players no matter what. They already have their nose in the LFP, and now they want to have it in the FFF and decide what will happen at the Federation? When I see President Nasser alongside Gianni Infantino, explaining to us that the Club World Cup is a good thing..."

That PSG also has a part of the responsibility is quite possible. He is a Parisian player who had to follow the club's schedule and played at the start of the season. But Dugarry exaggerates, as he often does. First, it should be noted that PSG did not create the Club World Cup. And we shouldn't blame Parisians for winning the Champions League or reaching the World Cup final, highlighting French football.

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It should also be noted that Dembélé was on the bench against Nantes, during the 2nd day of Ligue 1, for a late match entry. He also did not play during the group stage of the Club World Cup to be cautious after a muscle issue. Here, Dugarry himself points out: we know the forward has vulnerabilities. He was coming back from a warning, had only one collective training session, and it was after an incomplete preparation due to the schedule.

This choice to play the forward at halftime did not come from PSG and was not cautious. It was possible because the player was "fit." But there were wiser options. Dugarry can defend Deschamps, but it was his choice to bring him on instead of other good options on the bench. Maybe Paris is also overreacting, but this is far from the first time such a situation has occurred. It is therefore also about defending themselves, protecting the players, and stopping being penalized during the season by someone else's choices.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇫🇷 here.