Out of the shadow: How Ousmane Dembélé became the true king of post Messi and Mbappé PSG

Hands up if you ever thought Ousmane Dembélé would win the Ballon d’Or. Xavi Hernández thought it was possible, although he was surely in the minority. It turns out the former Barcelona head coach and club legend knows what he’s talking about.

“When used properly, he could become the best player in the world,” said Xavi in 2021 after becoming Barça manager.

Dembélé’s talent has never been in doubt, ever since he made his breakthrough as a teenager with Rennes in France. However, questionable decision-making, an alarming lack of consistency and injuries always held him back, until last season (2024-25).

Dembélé’s role in a “better” PSG post-Mbappé

Luis Enrique warned us that Paris Saint-Germain would get better after Kylian Mbappé left for Real Madrid. He was right, and Dembélé has had plenty to do with it.

“Next year we’ll be better, without doubt,” the PSG boss stated during his debut season, before delivering what many interpreted as a stinging message to his star forward. “When a player goes where he wants that means there are parts of our play that I don’t control. And next year I am going to control all of them. Without exception.”

How Dembélé fulfilled his potential

Luis Enrique’s control of Dembélé has been psychological as much as it has been tactical. The forward joined PSG a little more than a month after the Spanish tactician, and the message from Luis Enrique ever since has been the same: be more selfish. Pass less, score more.

That came to fruition most clearly following Mbappé’s departure, which allowed Dembélé to step into a central attacking position for the first time in his career. The combination of that tactical switch and a mentality shift proved lethal, with the France international scoring 35 goals in all competitions in 2024-25, more than double his previous best in a season.

The importance of staying fit

It sounds simple to say, but staying fit has also been pivotal. Dembélé played 53 games last season, the highest number of his career to date. In his previous nine seasons as a first-team player, he had only made more than 40 appearances four times. In four of those campaigns, he played fewer than 35 matches, fewer than the goals he scored in 2024-25.

For that, the man himself deserves plenty of credit. The story goes that the penny dropped during his final couple of seasons in Barcelona, after he got married in December 2021 and had a child soon after.

Frequent physiotherapy sessions and regular preventative treatments became the norm, providing a platform for him to finally fulfill his potential. Boosted by PSG’s Champions League triumph 12 months ago, that journey culminated in a Ballon d’Or victory that few saw coming.

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