The Barcelona winger is a more complete player than his France team-mate, according to a man who has played against them both

Serge Gnabry has claimed that Ousmane Dembele is “much better” than Kylian Mbappe while debating the Paris Saint-Germain forward with his Bayern Munich team-mates in a TV documentary.

Mbappe is widely regarded as one of the best players in Europe, having won multiple league titles across spells at Monaco and PSG while also getting his hands on the World Cup with the French national team.

In stark contrast, Dembele, who was also part of the squad that won the prestigious international trophy in 2018, has seen his career blighted by injuries since his move to Barcelona from Borussia Dortmund in 2017, but Gnabry still holds him in higher esteem.

What’s been said?

The Bayern winger ranked Dembele above Mbappe when weighing up their qualities in a discussion with Allianz Arena colleagues Thomas Muller and Joshua Kimmich on Amazon Prime Video.

“The best player between Dembele and Mbappe? For me, it’s Dembele,” said the 26-year-old.

Muller then replied: “What do you mean, better? If he could dribble like Dembele, he would be better too.”

Kimmich had the final word, and opted against judging Mbappe before insisting that Dembele is inferior to both Gnabry and Coman – the latter of whom was also present for the debate.

“If I am asked to choose between Dembele and Gnabry or Coman, I would always take Gnabry or Coman,” he said. “To be honest, this debate on Dembele p*sses me off.”

Mbappe & Dembele career records

Mbappe has hit 168 goals in 245 career appearances to date, including 138 for PSG, who he has helped win 10 domestic trophies and reach a first-ever Champions League final.

The 22-year-old has also found the net 19 times in 51 outings for France, while Dembele has only four to his name from 27 caps.

The Barcelona star has recorded 52 goals in 197 games since the start of his career, with 30 of those efforts coming for Barca, but has struggled with serious injuries throughout his time at Camp Nou.

Could both men be on the move in 2022?

Mbappe tried to push through a transfer to Real Madrid in the summer, and the Spanish giants are expected to return for his signature in January as he continues to stall on signing a new contract at PSG.

Dembele is in a similar position with his current deal at Barca also due to expire in June 2022, but Blaugrana boss Ronald Koeman is still hopeful he will commit to fresh terms.

“We want Dembele to stay. He’s an important player who brings something different in attack,” Koeman told a press conference on Tuesday. “We want him to sign a new contract but if he doesn’t want to, we as a club have to assess the situation. We still think he could renew.”