France's Ousmane Dembélé has hit back at the criticism he has faced since winning the 2025 Ballon d'Or, insisting the extra pressure of claiming football's most prestigious individual prize doesn't faze him one bit.
Speaking to "France Football" magazine, the Paris Saint-Germain star reflected on life after the Ballon d'Or and pinpointed one change above all others: the flood of criticism now coming his way.
"I don't care about being criticised, it's part of the game," he told RMC. "You will always be criticised in football, and it increases when you are the holder of the Ballon d'Or."
"I have won the biggest individual award, so I am now under the microscope more," he added. "This makes me laugh, you are constantly watched, but it doesn't bother me."
The Ballon d'Or imposes a new challenge
Dembélé featured in 40 matches for Paris Saint-Germain across all competitions in 2025-2026, scoring 20 goals and providing 11 assists. Winning the Ballon d'Or, he says, forces him to deliver every single time he steps out.
"You have to be strong all the time," he explained. "You have to put in a good performance in every match, otherwise everyone will start talking about you and criticising you. This is funny, but it doesn't change anything, the criticism will always be there."
By his own reckoning, he has become more decisive than last season, none more so than in the Champions League, where he scored in every game he played from the quarter-final second leg onwards.
"I was clearly better in the decisive moments, and that is important," he said. "Isn't that the number one criterion?"
Early-season injuries, he pointed out, led the coaching staff to manage him carefully and keep him fresh for the biggest occasions.
Dembélé is not obsessed with keeping the award
He is not among the frontrunners to retain the Ballon d'Or, yet losing it clearly holds no fear for him.
"This is football," he said. "The Ballon d'Or was never an obsession for me. It was a goal or a dream, yes, but it was never an obsession."
"I hope the best player wins," he added.
Dembélé's surprise: Kvaratskhelia is his first choice
Asked which player he would crown if the choice were his, Dembélé didn't hesitate. He handed his vote to Paris Saint-Germain team-mate Khvicha Kvaratskhelia of Georgia.
England's Harry Kane and his former Paris Saint-Germain team-mate Kylian Mbappé completed his top three alongside Kvaratskhelia.
Would he ever vote for himself? The answer was blunt: "No, if I were the one choosing, I would not put myself on the list and I would not vote for myself."
Mbappé takes the opposite view, having said that "if it were up to him, he would vote for himself in the Ballon d'Or race".
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