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France coach Deschamps is “afraid of offending” Kylian Mbappe and doesn’t care if he wins the Ballon d’Or, Dugarry said.
Ballon d’Or winner to be announcedMbappe, Haaland and Messi are in tight competitionDeschamps ‘doesn’t care’ whether Mbappe wins or not
WHAT HAPPENED? Kylian Mbappe is in contention for the 2023 Ballon d’Or, with the winner to be announced in Paris on October 30 2023. Didier Deschamps insists the Paris Saint-Germain striker deserves the award, despite Lionel Messi and Erling Haaland being favorites after scintillating performances them in the 2022-23 season. However, French World Cup winner Christophe Dugarry does not expect Mbappe to take top spot and claims that Deschamps feels the same, but will not share his true feelings for fear of “offending the feelings” of his star player.
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WHAT THEY SAID: “It made me laugh. You feel it’s a ball of hypocrites. Journalists ask questions and you don’t know if they mean it,” he told RMC Sport. “We asked that question to Deschamps, but I’m sure he doesn’t care. He (Mbappé) is not scoring goals at the moment, he is not playing well, but (Deschamps) is afraid of offending him so he is obliged to give a response. Don’t connect with me and don’t ‘frying’ me with Deschamps. I’m talking about everyone who gave their opinion, friends of friends, those who have an interest. There is no real honesty in all this. Ballon d’Or, we don’t care, it doesn’t interest anyone .”
BIGGER PICTURE: Dugarry also expressed his belief that Haaland and Messi would be more deserving Ballon d’Or winners than Mbappe. Messi inspired Argentina to the 2022 World Cup and Haaland won the treble in his first season at Manchester City, while Mbappe could only claim the Ligue 1 title at PSG as they failed to make an impact in the Champions League again.
“Today, to put my foot down, I wouldn’t give it to Mbappe, no matter how strong he is,” he added. “I would give it to someone who has won titles, it could be Messi, or Haaland.”
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WHAT’S NEXT FOR MBAPPE? The striker will return to action on Friday (13/10) when France face the Netherlands in the Euro 2024 qualifiers.
