After a phenomenal year with PSG, Ousmane Dembele has enjoyed the best season of his career, including lifting the Ballon d'Or, which has never been a stated objective for the 'Mosquito', who is more attached to teamwork than individual statistics.
As he once did on the pitch, Xavi saw everything before anyone else. When he was Barcelona coach, the former midfielder claimed that Dembele had everything it took to become the best player in the world.
The 'Mosquito' is the 2025 Ballon d'Or winner, after an incredible season with PSG, as the attacking leader after Kylian Mbappe left the Parc des Princes.
In the end, it was the discreet, the distracted, the man who never became fixated on statistics and individual trophies, the one who didn't even campaign to top the polls, who lifted the prestigious award, following in the footsteps of Rodri, another low-profile player has been crowned despite the hype, followers and media coverage.
Following in the footsteps of Raymond Kopa, Michel Platini, Jean-Pierre Papin, Zinedine Zidane and Karim Benzema, Dembele becomes the sixth Frenchman to win the Ballon d'Or, and the second after 'JPP' to do so after a full season in Ligue 1, while George Weah and Lionel Messi only played half a season in France when they were crowned.
Rocky moves
Dembele has never lacked talent, ever since his early days at Rennes. But stormy departures to sign for Borussia Dortmund, Barca, and PSG have blurred his image, and injuries in Catalonia have become the stuff of legend, even though he has not suffered a long-term absence since being reinstated by Xavi in January 2022.
His failure in front of goal has also been the subject of ridicule. Perhaps it was his reunion with Barcelona in the Champions League quarter-finals in 2024 that changed everything in his mind.
The stunt did not go down well with his former fans, who were offended to see him shine so brightly after having squandered so much of his potential at the Camp Nou.
The sequence is now famous: in the documentary series "No tienes ni puta idea" broadcast on Movistar and then Canal+, Luis Enrique wants to convince Mbappe that he must defend and become a total leader for the team... and it was Dembele who finally espoused the Asturian's plea, culminating in a lesson in self-sacrifice in the Champions League final against Inter.
More than his record (35 goals, 16 goals in 53 matches in all competitions), it is his contribution to the team that has made him an obvious choice, despite competition from Lamine Yamal, who has plenty of time to achieve this award.
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From a carefree world champion playing Football Manager with Winchester FC in 2018 to a Ballon d'Or winner in 2025, seven years have gone by, far from being linear.
Without forcing his nature but by thinking deeply about the player he wanted to be, Dembele has shown a real ability to progress and to listen to Luis Enrique, the coach who changed his life and took him into another dimension.