Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi congratulate their former club teammate Ousmane Dembélé after winning the Ballon d'Or award on Monday.
Dembélé defeated Barcelona's Lamine Yamal to lift the famous solo trophy after an impressive season with Paris Saint-Germain.
The French striker scored 35 goals and provided 14 assists in 53 games to help PSG win their first Champions League game and win the Ligue 1 title and Fuce de France.
Mbappé, who left PSG in the summer of 2024 after seven years at the club's joining Real Madrid, was one of the first to congratulate his French teammates.
“Ousmane Dembélé. So exciting, my brother! You deserve 1,000 times,” wrote on Instagram after Dembélé awarded the award.
Ousmane Dembélé won the 69th Ballon d'Or award before Lamine Yamal in Barcelona. Kristy Sparow – Uefa/Uefa by Getty Images
Mbappé, 26, has not won the Ballon d'Or, finishing seventh in this year's edition.
Eighth-time Ballon d'Or champion Messi was also pleased to see Dembélé get the recognition he deserved.
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Messi spent four seasons with Dembélé in Barcelona before the Argentine star moved to PSG in 2021.
The Miami International captain posted a Spanish comment on Dembélé’s Instagram and wrote: “Great! Congratulations on being happy for you. You deserve it.”
Dembélé moved to PSG in the same transfer window from Barcelona in 2023 and saw Messi leave the French Giants to join Miami, referring to his former Barcelona teammate in his acceptance speech.
“I learned a lot there [at Barcelona]fight side by side with players like Messi [Andres] Iniesta. ” he said on Monday.
“It was a great learning experience. I was so happy when I saw the list of legends that won this award.”