Upamecano avoids Mbappe-Dembele Ballon d’Or dispute as France begin Zidane era

Dayot Upamecano declined to comment on the public disagreement between France team-mates Ousmane Dembele and Kylian Mbappe over the Ballon d’Or, choosing instead to focus on France’s first training session under Zinedine Zidane.

Paris Saint-Germain forward Dembele and Real Madrid striker Mbappe are among the 30 nominees for this year’s award, which will be presented at a ceremony in London on 26 October.

The dispute followed an interview Mbappe gave to France Football on Saturday. The magazine has presented the Ballon d’Or since 1956.

During the interview, Mbappe said: “Dembele was always seen as a talented player, while I, on the other hand, was always considered the chosen player.”

Dembele responded: “I was never seen as the chosen player, but I worked hard and, last year, I was rewarded with a great season with Paris Saint-Germain.”

Upamecano was one of 12 players involved in France’s training session on Monday. He described the workout as the beginning of a new chapter for the national team under former France captain Zidane.

“We enjoyed ourselves a lot, and that is the most important thing,” said the Bayern Munich defender. “Today, our focus was on adapting and welcoming the new players. We had a really good training session. I am very happy.

“We have all been fans of his since we were young, as well as of Barthez, and it is great to learn from him.”

Asked about Zidane’s first session in charge, Upamecano added, as reported by French outlet Foot Mercato: “It is difficult to imitate Zidane’s control of the ball” – before laughing.

“His first words were that we should give our best on the pitch, and that is what we tried to do.”

Zidane’s technical ability was one of the features of the session that impressed Upamecano, but the defender said the players were primarily focused on enjoying their time together rather than discussing the Ballon d’Or disagreement.

“We are not going to get involved in any arguments,” he said. “We only trained and enjoyed our time here. Look at my smile – we enjoyed ourselves a lot.”