Ousmane Dembélé

Masour Ousmane Dembélé (French pronunciation: [us.man dɛm.be.le]; born 15 May 1997) is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward or right winger for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and the France national team. Considered one of the best players in the world, he is one of ten players to have won the FIFA World Cup, UEFA Champions League, and Ballon d'Or in their career.

Dembélé began his professional career at Rennes, where he was named Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year in his sole season with the first team. In 2016, he transferred to German club Borussia Dortmund, winning the DFB-Pokal in his debut campaign and scoring in the final. Regarded as one of the most promising young talents in world football, he joined Spanish side Barcelona in 2017 for an initial fee of €105 million, making him at the time the joint-second most expensive player in history, alongside Paul Pogba and behind Neymar. Although he did not fully meet the expectations placed on him at the club, Dembélé won multiple domestic honors with Barcelona, including three La Liga, two Copa del Rey, and two Supercopa de España titles.

Dembélé returned to France in 2023, signing with Paris Saint-Germain for a fee of €50.4 million. In the 2024–25 season, he experienced a resurgence in his career, contributing 33 goals and 15 assists in 49 appearances as PSG won a continental treble. He was named Ligue 1 Player of the Year and UEFA Champions League Player of the Season, as well as finishing as the Ligue 1 top scorer. His performances earned him the 2025 Ballon d'Or.

After winning 20 caps and scoring five goals at youth level, Dembélé made his senior international debut for France in 2016. He was a member of the France squad that won the 2018 FIFA World Cup, also featuring at UEFA Euro 2020, the 2022 World Cup (finishing as runners-up) and Euro 2024.

Early life and career

Dembélé was born in Vernon, Eure, in Normandy. His mother is Mauritanian-Senegalese from Waly Diantang, while his father is Malian. He took his first footballing steps in nearby Évreux, first at ALM Évreux and then at Évreux FC 27 between the ages of 12 and 13.

Club career

Rennes

Dembélé made his senior debut for Rennes' reserve side in the Championnat de France Amateur, on 6 September 2014, coming on as a 78th-minute substitute for Zana Allée. He effectively set up Alseny Kourouma for the second goal of a 2–0 home win over the reserves of Breton rivals Guingamp. On 9 November, he scored his first career goal, again coming off the bench in a game at the Stade de la Piverdière, this time against the reserves of Laval. He totalled 13 goals in 18 games in his first season, including a hat-trick on 16 May 2015 in a 6–1 win over Hérouville.

On 6 November 2015, Dembélé made his professional debut for Rennes' first team in Ligue 1 against Angers, replacing Kamil Grosicki for the last five minutes of the game. On 22 November, he scored his first Ligue 1 goal for the first team against Bordeaux, opening a 2–2 draw at Roazhon Park. On 9 January 2016, Dembélé found the net again for Rennes, as they came from 0–2 down to draw 2–2 against regional rivals Lorient at home. On 6 March, he scored his first Ligue 1 hat-trick in a 4–1 victory over Nantes in the Derby Breton.

On 18 March, he scored his tenth goal of the season in a 5–2 win against Marseille at the Stade Vélodrome. He ended his debut season with twelve goals from 29 matches, after scoring twice in a 3–1 win against Stade Reims on 2 April.

Rennes' sporting director Mikaël Silvestre compared Dembélé to Cristiano Ronaldo, whom he had seen arrive at Manchester United around the same age.

Borussia Dortmund

On 12 May 2016, Dembélé signed a five-year contract with German club Borussia Dortmund, effective 1 July. On 14 August, he made his debut in a 2–0 defeat against Bayern Munich in the DFL-Supercup. He scored his first goal for Dortmund on 20 September, in a Bundesliga encounter against VfL Wolfsburg, which Dortmund won 5–1 at the Volkswagen Arena. On 22 November, he scored the first Champions League goal of his career as the German club defeated Legia Warsaw 8–4 in a group stage meeting.

On 26 April 2017, in the DFB-Pokal semi-final against Bayern Munich, Dembélé assisted Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's 69th-minute equaliser and scored the winning goal in the 74th minute, helping Dortmund reach the 2017 DFB-Pokal Final. On 27 May, in the decisive match against Eintracht Frankfurt at the Berlin Olympiastadion, he scored the first goal of a 2–1 victory as Dortmund clinched their first major title in five years. Dembélé was subsequently named man of the match.

After scoring six goals and recording 13 assists during 2016–17, Dembélé was named to the Bundesliga Team of the Season and awarded the league's Rookie of the Season award.

Barcelona

On 25 August 2017, La Liga side Barcelona announced that they had reached an agreement to sign Dembélé for €105 million plus a reported €40 million add-ons. On 28 August, he had his medical and signed a five-year contract, with his buyout clause set at €400 million. Barcelona had sold Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) for €222 million, so the deal meant that Dembélé became the joint-second most expensive player (in euros), along with Paul Pogba. Rennes received a reported €20 million from Borussia Dortmund as a result of the sale, and Évreux 27 were also due part of the fee. He was handed the number 11 shirt previously worn by Neymar.

2017–18: First season and domestic double

Dembélé made his debut on 9 September as a 68th-minute substitute for Gerard Deulofeu in a 5–0 Derbi barceloní win over Espanyol at the Camp Nou, assisting the final goal by Luis Suárez. In his first league start eight days later at Getafe, he injured his hamstring and was ruled out for four months. He was given the medical all-clear on 2 January 2018, but a couple weeks later, he again injured himself against Real Sociedad and was ruled out for up to four weeks.

On 14 March 2018, Dembélé scored his first goal for Barcelona, netting the second goal in a 3–0 second leg win in the Champions League round of 16 against Chelsea. On 17 April, he scored his first La Liga goal, the opening goal in an eventual 2–2 draw with Celta Vigo. On 9 May, Dembélé scored twice, marking the first brace of his Barcelona career, in a 5–1 home victory over Villarreal. Dembélé won both the Copa del Rey and La Liga winners' medals in his first season in Spain, with the 20-year-old scoring four goals in 24 appearances across all competitions.

2018–19: Supercopa de España and second La Liga title

On 12 August 2018, Dembélé scored the winning goal against Sevilla in the Supercopa de España, in an eventual 2–1 victory to win Barcelona their 13th Supercopa de España title. He opened his La Liga season's goal tally by scoring the only goal of the game against Real Valladolid, on 25 August, away at the Estadio José Zorrilla. On 18 September, Dembélé scored his first Champions League goal of the season, helping Barcelona beat PSV 4–0 at the Camp Nou. On 4 November, he inspired Barcelona to a 3–2 comeback away against Rayo Vallecano, scoring the 2–2 equaliser with a half-volley in the 87th minute. On 11 December, he scored a remarkable solo goal against Tottenham Hotspur outpacing many defenders, finishing with a cool left footed shot past Hugo Lloris. He won the UEFA Champions League Goal of the Week for that goal. After the match, Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde praised the youngster, saying "He has made a great goal, within reach of players with his talent." He finished the season with 14 goals, 8 of them in the league, as his club managed to win another La Liga title.

2019–21: Recurring injuries

Dembélé injured his left hamstring in the opening match of the 2019–20 La Liga season, a 0–1 defeat against Athletic Bilbao, and was expected to miss five weeks. He returned as a half-time substitute in Barcelona's 2–1 home win over Villarreal on 24 September. He scored his first goal of the season in a 4–0 win over Sevilla on 6 October, but was later sent off for dissent. On 27 November, in a Champions League group match against his former club Borussia Dortmund, Dembélé suffered an injury which led to his substitution after 24 minutes. It was later confirmed by Barcelona that he would miss the following ten weeks with a thigh injury.

In February 2020, on his return to training, he suffered a serious hamstring tear which ended his season.

Dembélé returned to the field for the first time in ten months as a 70th-minute substitute for Ansu Fati in Barcelona's La Liga fixture against Villarreal on 27 September 2020. He scored his first goal in 380 days in the team's first Champions League fixture of the season against Ferencváros on 20 October.