Coming into this international break, there was a lot of noise surrounding Ousmane Dembélé. The Ballon d’Or winner’s relationship with Kylian Mbappé has reportedly turned a little “frosty” amid a Cold War played out through the media, as Mbappé lobbies to win this year’s edition of the Ballon d’Or. Dembélé hit back at Mbappé’s “chosen one” jibe and has since said that he “refuses to sell” himself, unlike his former Paris Saint-Germain teammate, who continues to play up his chances in his media interventions.

On the pitch, however, Dembélé has been quiet during this international break. He has yet to score during France’s three matches, despite now playing in his favoured No.9 role. Mbappé was forced out to the left for Les Bleus’ first game of the Zinédine Zidane era, a 1-0 win over Turkiye. The Real Madrid forward was injured in the same game and withdrew from the squad.

Dembélé, in the absence of Les Bleus’ all-time top scorer, has failed to step up, inciting some criticism that Zidane was quick to deflect. “At PSG, he is better, and what is he here? Ousmane is Ousmane. He moves a lot; he ‘loses’ his position and that is what is interesting to us. I don’t have any reason to criticise him. The player remains calm, calm about his performance against Italy. He is counting on making up for it against Belgium,” said Zidane ahead of Les Bleus’ final game of the extended international window, against Belgium on Monday night.