Kylian Mbappe Ballon d'Or campaign slammed by French pundits

Kylian Mbappe's increasingly public push for a first Ballon d'Or has sparked a fierce backlash in France, with former international Jerome Rothen accusing the Real Madrid forward of going too far in the way he is promoting his candidacy.

Mbappe has made no secret of his desire to finally win football's leading individual prize and has given a series of interviews in recent weeks as the October ceremony approaches.

The 27-year-old has spoken openly about why he believes individual performance should carry significant weight in the voting and has continued discussing the award despite Real Madrid's recent problems.

That strategy has now become part of the story itself.

Rothen and fellow RMC commentator Daniel Riolo have both questioned the scale and timing of Mbappe's media appearances, particularly after his disappointing display in Real's 2-1 derby defeat to Atletico Madrid.

Rather than simply arguing that Mbappe should not win the award, their criticism has focused heavily on the manner in which he and his entourage appear to be promoting his candidacy.

Rothen turns on Mbappe's Ballon d'Or push

Rothen delivered the strongest criticism on his Rothen S'enflamme programme.

The former Paris Saint-Germain and France midfielder suggested that Mbappe's recent public appearances were part of a deliberate effort to influence the voting.

"Do you realise that, at the moment, he is trying to buy votes for the Ballon d'Or?" Rothen said, using the provocative phrase while discussing the player's media campaign rather than alleging literal payments to voters.

Rothen then went further when considering the possibility of Mbappe winning the award, describing such an outcome in highly dismissive terms.

His frustration appears to centre on the impression that Mbappe is pushing his candidacy more aggressively than previous contenders.

The Real Madrid forward has recently appeared across several major international outlets and has repeatedly defended the idea that the Ballon d'Or should reward the strongest individual performer rather than automatically favouring a player from the most successful team.

That argument is particularly relevant to Mbappe because Real Madrid ended last season without a major trophy.

Nevertheless, his individual campaign remains strong enough to keep him firmly in the conversation ahead of the vote.

The criticism from Rothen therefore concerns not only whether Mbappe deserves the prize, but how visibly he is attempting to make that case.

Mbappe's global media push comes under scrutiny

Riolo has taken a similar position, focusing particularly on Mbappe's interview with French international broadcaster RFI.

The journalist argued that the choice of outlet was significant because of RFI's reach beyond France, particularly across parts of Africa.

He also highlighted that the interview took 17 days to organise and was recorded only two days before the Madrid derby.

For Riolo, those details suggested something far more structured than a routine run of media appearances.

"There is a huge strategy behind it," he said, describing what he believed to be an organisation operating on an international scale.

Riolo's criticism became sharper after Mbappe struggled badly against Atletico.

The France captain generated just 0.02 xG and had only one blocked shot as Real lost the derby, providing an awkward backdrop to the intense discussion surrounding his individual ambitions.

Riolo subsequently described the Ballon d'Or as Mbappe's "obsession" at present and accused him of being overly calculated in the way he was presenting his candidacy.

That does not establish that Mbappe's interviews were specifically arranged to target individual groups of voters.

It does, however, illustrate how closely his public appearances are now being analysed in France.

The wider Ballon d'Or debate is already centred on how voters should balance individual brilliance and collective success, with Lamine Yamal among those to have publicly discussed the criteria.

Mbappe has previously finished among the leading Ballon d'Or contenders without winning the trophy and is again expected to feature prominently in this year's race.

Whether his recent interviews ultimately influence voters is impossible to determine.

What is already clear is that the campaign itself has become almost as heavily debated in France as the performances on which his candidacy is based.