Ousmane Dembélé Laughs Off Ballon d'Or Criticism

Ousmane Dembélé knows exactly what comes with the golden ball. The spotlight. The scrutiny. The endless debate. And he insists none of it is getting under his skin.

Since lifting the 2025 Ballon d'Or, the Paris Saint-Germain winger has found himself dissected more than ever. Every touch, every decision, every off night. He hears the noise. He just refuses to care.

"I don't care about being criticised, it's part of the game," he told RMC, speaking after an interview with "France Football". "You will always be criticised in football, and it increases when you are the holder of the Ballon d'Or."

Then came the punchline.

"I have won the biggest individual award, so I am now under the microscope more. This makes me laugh, you are constantly watched, but it doesn't bother me."

Life with the Ballon d'Or: under the microscope

Dembélé’s numbers since that coronation are not those of a player weighed down by expectation. Across the 2025-2026 season, he played 40 games for PSG in all competitions, scoring 20 goals and supplying 11 assists. Those are the figures of a man embracing the responsibility, not shrinking from it.

For him, the Ballon d'Or has changed one thing above all: the demand to deliver every single time he steps on the pitch.

"You have to be strong all the time," he said. "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."

The pressure, then, is not a burden. It’s a filter. Either you live with it, or you don't belong at that level.

By his own assessment, Dembélé has become more ruthless when it matters most. Nowhere was that more evident than in the Champions League, where he scored in every game he played from the quarter-final second leg onwards. When the season tightened, he sharpened.

"I was clearly better in the decisive moments, and that is important," he said. "Isn't that the number one criterion?"

Early in the campaign, injuries forced PSG’s staff to handle him with care, managing his minutes to keep him fresh for the spring. The plan was obvious: protect the Ballon d'Or winner, unleash him when the stakes are highest. On his side, Dembélé believes he answered that call.

Not obsessed with keeping the crown

The conversation around him now stretches beyond performances. Can he keep the trophy? Will he go back-to-back? On current lists of favourites, his name does not sit at the very top, but the idea of surrendering the award does not trouble him in the slightest.

"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."

He sounds almost detached from the race.

"I hope the best player wins," he added, as if he were talking about any other prize, not the one sitting on his own shelf.

Kvaratskhelia, Kane, Mbappé – but not Dembélé

Asked who should win it, if the choice were his alone, Dembélé did not hesitate or reach for a diplomatic answer. He went straight to a teammate.

His pick: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, the Georgian star sharing a dressing room with him at Paris Saint-Germain.

Behind Kvaratskhelia, he named England captain Harry Kane and his former PSG colleague Kylian Mbappé to complete his personal top three. No curveballs. No self-promotion.

Would he ever vote for himself?

The reply was as direct as his dribbling.

"No, if I were the one choosing, I would not put myself on the list and I would not vote for myself."

It’s a stance that stands in stark contrast to Mbappé’s. The France forward has openly admitted that, given the choice, he would back himself in the Ballon d'Or race. Two superstars, two different readings of what it means to be the best.

Dembélé, though, seems content with a simpler reality: the trophy is his, the criticism is loud, and the only real answer still comes on the pitch.