Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappe said before their Champions League opener against Inter Milan that he'd have no problem winning the Ballon d'Or this year. Christoph Dugarry was not impressed.
"I made history this summer in the most prestigious competition, but there is still a long way to go for me," Mbappe said confidently. "This year can be a good one for me to win the Ballon d'Or," because "I always consider myself the best player in the world."
For Mbappe, it is also only natural "that people associate you with such awards when you play for the best club in the world. Many people in the street speak to me about the Ballon d'Or. Many people talk about me as a possible winner of the Ballon d'Or."
Former France striker Dugarry has little time for that kind of bluntness. "I find publicly asking for such an individual award childish and pathetic. It does not show greatness to ask for it, especially not as captain of the national team," he fumed on the RMC podcast 'Rothen s'enflamme'.
"A season in which no player truly stood out!"
He continued: "This was a season in which no player truly stood out. No player won everything, neither at team nor individual level. No one produced such an outstanding performance that you could say his victory would be obvious and certain."
That "football is becoming ever more individualistic" leaves the 55-cap France international "far too often angry. Instead of talking about yourself and individual awards, you should talk about the team, about sharing success, about the trophies you wanted to win together but could not."
Even so, Dugarry softened his tone towards the Equipe Tricolore captain in the end, because "I still understand - even if I generally do not agree with this approach - that he thinks he is the best player in the world."