Without much surprise, Ousmane Dembele was voted Ligue 1 Player of the Season at the UNFP awards. A choice that scandalizes Vincent Duluc, who reminds us that the Ballon d'Or winner started only 9 matches this season.
Being voted Ligue 1 Player of the Season with only 9 starts to his name is possible. Dembele achieved this feat on Monday at the 2025-2026 UNFP awards.
Brilliant in the Champions League but often managed by Luis Enrique in the league, the French international finished ahead of (in no particular order) Florian Thauvin (Lens), Mason Greenwood (Marseille), and his teammates Nuno Mendes and Vitinha.
Less than a year after winning the Ballon d'Or, the former Barcelona player continues his excellent haul of individual trophies.
But this one is not the most deserved in the eyes of Duluc. On the contrary, the L'Equipe journalist does not understand how a player so little used in the league can win such an individual trophy, as he regretted on his X account.
"The Ligue 1 Player of the Season this season started 9 times. The UNFP award is a masquerade, and the players who vote should stop bragging about not watching the matches. Dembele would not even be voted by his own supporters for his L1 season," he posted on his social media.
Despite his limited number of starts, Dembele still has 10 goals and 6 assists in Ligue 1 this season, averaging 1 goal every 90 minutes. Numbers that prove the extent to which PSG No. 10 is clearly above the rest in the league.
Nevertheless, other players deserved this award more, according to Duluc, who can particularly regret that Esteban Lepaul (Rennes), the top scorer of the French championship, is not even among the five nominees for this honorary individual title.
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