'What the hell are you talking about?' - Kylian Mbappe baffled by Rodri beating Vinicius Junior to Ballon d'Or as he plays down Ousmane Dembele's chances of winning 2025 prize

In October 2024, Manchester City and Spain midfielder Rodri won the prestigious Ballon d'Or, beating Vinicius Junior in the race. The selection of Rodri over the Brazilian divided opinions as Real Madrid boycotted the award ceremony in Paris after they found out about the results a few hours before the ceremony started.

Mbappe has now opened up about what he felt after watching his Los Blancos team-mate miss out on the Golden Ball as he called the voting process unpredictable. He also gave his opinion on whether his compatriot Dembele could win the prize this year after enjoying a stellar run of form for Paris Saint-Germain in the 2024-25 campaign.

When asked about Dembele's chances by Le Parisien, the 26-year-old said: "Today we don't know who's going to win the Ballon d'Or. We shouldn't rule anyone out; all the players can be awarded, maybe even a goalkeeper. The last one I thought would go to Vinicius, but in the end, it went to Rodri. If I had told you three months ago, you would have said, 'What the hell are you talking about?"

Mbappe will be back in action for France alongside Dembele this week as he is all set to lead Les Bleus in their two-legged Nations League quarter-final fixture against Croatia.