Dembélé’s Golden Redemption: From PSG Outcast to Ballon d’Or Champion

Ousmane Dembélé’s career took off after the departure of Mbappé and other PSG stars. This transformation came four years after his marriage to a Moroccan woman in December 2021. Nearly a year after their wedding celebrated in Morocco, Dembélé and his Moroccan wife became the proud parents of a little girl.

Ousmane Dembélé Ballon d’Or 2025, this is the consecration of a "phenomenal talent with a roller-coaster career". A poor finisher, he had missed out on the biggest individual trophy for a professional footballer against Lionel Messi in 2019. Today, he receives the congratulations of the Argentine. "Great Ous! Congratulations, I’m so happy for you. You deserve it," he notably saluted in the comments of Dembélé’s Instagram post.

Over time, he has become a better finisher and is thriving with PSG. Even though the first quarter of 2024 has not yet been completed, he has scored 18 goals, more than anyone in the five major European leagues, and by a wide margin. He even surpasses the goal machine Mohamed Salah who has 10. Only five men have outscored the French winger this season: Robert Lewandowski, Salah, Harry Kane, Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé. At 27, he is reaching the peak of his career.

His performances make his compatriot Mbappé forgotten. Dembélé is now the figurehead of this new-look team. Many fans are rushing to the club’s store outside the Parc des Princes to grab jerseys with his image. At this rate, Dembélé could well be on the podium of the magnificent Théâtre du Châtelet for this year’s Ballon d’Or ceremony. "He has been literally unplayable and unstoppable," explains Julien Laurens, a French football expert, to Mail Sport. "It has been a really interesting journey for him. When you think of the young Dembélé at Rennes and then at Dortmund, he was a real prodigy." He will add: "It was extraordinary, we hadn’t seen that in France for years. So much technique, dribbling, two feet, no pressure. At Rennes, it was like a UFO... something from another planet!"

His poor finishing and injuries have given way to great performances. His adventure at Barça is summed up by 14 distinct muscle injuries at the Camp Nou, with 784 days of absence and only 37% of league matches played, according to Transfermarkt data. Dembélé eventually left Barcelona for PSG where he is showcasing his talent. Encouraged and supported by Luis Enrique, the Parisian club’s coach, he is exploding. "We are witnessing a phenomenon," commented a columnist from Le Parisien.