Christophe Dugarry turns 50 today and what better way than to remind ourselves of the shocking and controversial statements the former striker has made over the years.
During his 15-year career, the Frenchman won a bountiful of trophies that many other players can only dream of, including the 1998 World Cup, the European Championships in 2000 and La Liga in 1998. A collection of his old clubs include AC Milan, Barcelona and Marseille, as well as a short stint at Birmingham City.
But since hanging up his boots, Dugarry has turned to the studio where his comments might make him even more (in)famous than his playing career. Those who have met the wrath of his words include Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Jose Mourinho.
He has not escaped criticism for his comments after apologising for calling Messi “half autistic” but that was not the first time he used the phrase, using the same words for former Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa. While Zinedine Zidane and Matthijs de Ligt have also been condemned by the World Cup winner.
“Shameful” Kylian Mbappe
After being pictured exchanging angry words with then-PSG manager Thomas Tuchel, Dugarry said: “Honestly, I crumbled when I saw the images. When I saw Mbappe do that, I told myself: 'It is not possible that he is doing something like this'.
“He is a kid that always explains to the world how mature he is, that he is much more mature than the rest. Doing something like that is something a spoiled rotten child does. I love this player. But it is simply scandalous what he did. Who does he think he is?
"It was disrespectful to Tuchel and his teammates. Cavani has 200 goals for PSG, they are no longer in the spotlight and have never spoken. It is shameful what Mbappe did, there are other players on the squad who also deserve to play!"
Jose Mourinho’s “up his own a***”
Despite winning 1-0 against Young Boys, then-Manchester United manager Mourinho came in for a verbal flogging from Dugarry, who said: “It’s unbearable. He’s wrecked the club. When you see them play on Tuesday, it’s catastrophic, it’s awful, when we all remember Manchester with Roy Keane, Beckham – all the great players, they played offensive football.
“It was beautiful and passionate. Old Trafford was the Theatre of Dreams, now it’s the Theatre of Nightmares with this guy. It’s crazy.
“What he doesn’t understand is that we don’t give a s*** about his titles, we just want emotion and to watch good football, which he’s incapable of giving us, but he won’t realise that because he’s so far up his own a***. We don’t care at all about what you’ve won, mate.”
“Half autistic” Lionel Messi
While at Barcelona, Messi was blamed by Dugarry for Antoine Griezmann’s woes at the Nou Camp for comments that he was heavily criticised for, saying: "What is [Griezmann] afraid of? A kid who is 1.5 metres tall and half autistic? All he has to do is show some balls at this point.
"I've been saying for a year that he has a problem with Messi. He has to hit him in the face. It's true that Messi could give him more passes, but honestly I am not surprised. Griezmann loses balls, doesn't play with confidence. Griezmann should go and talk to Messi to solve the problem."
He later apologised for his words, tweeting: "I’m sincerely sorry for the breadth and depth of my remarks about Lionel Messi. I didn't want to stigmatise people with autism disorders, that was not my intention. I apologise to the people I shocked and will do it again (apologise) on Team Duga (TV show) this evening."
Matthijs de Ligt "makes me want to throw up"
One of the biggest transfer sagas in the summer of 2019 was that of De Light, who eventually joined Juventus, but his financial demands ruled out Dugarry’s old club Barcelona - who was fuming.
He said: "What is the idea? What is happening in your head? 12, 13, 14 or 15 million euros? At some point, what changes? You will have one more car, 50m² more in the apartment, 10 meters more for your boat.
"If it is a purely financial option, I stop, that makes me want to throw up. De Ligt, he's excellent, he's very good, but with a mentality like that, it will not last, it's not possible.
"I congratulate the president (PSG), congratulate Leonardo, congratulate those who take the decisions. I'm tired of this new football. But De Ligt, at one time or another, commit yourself to a project with PSG. Even you have started not to commit to this project and to think of two doors ( the entrance and the exit)."
Zinedine Zidane and “eating two rats”
With Mourinho under pressure at United, one of the names floated to replace him was Zidane but Dugarry was having none of it, saying: "Zizou won't go to Manchester. I’m telling you, he won't go to Manchester. If he called Mourinho, I won't eat one rat, I'll eat two.
"I don't believe it for one second, because the relationship between Zidane and Mourinho has never been good. Never. So I don't see why Zizou would call Mourinho to tell him he won't take his job. Zizou is on holiday, Mourinho is sorting his situation out by himself."
