Let us assume that in 2023, if someone were to tell me that Ousmane Dembele would win the Ballon d’Or before Erling Haaland or Kylian Mbappe, would you believe it? This has actually happened, as Ousmane Dembele Deservingly wins the BALLON D’OR 2025. What a story this has been for the French superstar, from an injury-prone player to a Ballon d’Or winner.
When we look at the stats of Ousmane Dembele in the 2024/2025 season, it was just phenomenal. He scored 35 goals and provided 16 assists. Dembele won four trophies with his club, Paris Saint-Germain: the UEFA Champions League, Ligue 1, Coupe de France, and Trophee des Champions. His national side also reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Nations League.
From an injury-prone to a Ballon d’Or winner
Dembele started his professional football career with the Ligue 1 side, Rennes. He made his debut on 6th November 2015, whereas his first goal came against Bordeaux. Dembele had a cracker of a season, and his sporting director also compared him to the greatest footballer of all time, Cristiano Ronaldo. In the 2015/2016 season, Ousmane Dembele won the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year.
The German side, Borussia Dortmund, did not waste any time bringing Dembele to Germany. They signed him on a five-year deal. He scored his first goal for Dortmund on 20th September against Wolfsburg. In the same season during the DFB Pokal semi-final, their arch-rivals, Bayern Munich, Dembele gave an assist in the 69th minute and also scored a goal five minutes later. Dortmund were playing the final against Frankfurt, and he also scored in that game and was the player of the match. Dortmund ended a five-year trophy drought. Dembele won the Bundesliga Rookie of the Season award and was also in the team of the season.
Barcelona did the big-money move for Dembele
After Neymar left Barcelona to join Paris-Saint Germain, Barcelona made expensive signings, and Ousmane Dembele was one of them. Barcelona paid around €145 million for Dembele. He got the number 11 of Neymar Jr. Dembele scored his first Barcelona goal in March 2018 against Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League. He won two trophies with Barcelona that season: La Liga and Copa del Rey.
In the next season, that is 2018/2019, again, Barcelona won two titles: the Supercopa de Espana and La Liga. Dembele scored the winning goal against Sevilla in the Supercopa de Espana. Just a month before, he scored a goal against Spurs in the UEFA Champions League. He won the Goal of the Week award. After this season, the downfall period started for him.
In the next couple of seasons, he barely played matches as he was quite a lot from 2019 to 2021. The fans started to lose trust in him. Xavi arrived at the club as the manager, and Dembele played well under him. Dembele had some other plans as he left Barcelona to join PSG in 2023 for a transfer fee of €50 million.
Career Redemption under Luis Enrique and Paris Saint-Germain
He was wearing number 23, but again he was given the number 10 of Neymar as he left the club. In the first season of Dembele at PSG, he won two trophies. Luis Enquire was building a team, and Kylian Mbappe had left for his dream club, Real Madrid.
Ousmane Dembele did not start the 2024/2025 season on a good note, as he had some issues with the coach. He was also benched for arriving late and not being disciplined. PSG were also struggling in the UEFA Champions League. It was January 2025 when everything changed for the player and the club, and now we are here as Ousmane Dembele won the Ballon d’Or 2025.
