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BBC Sport columnist
Andy Cryer
BBC Sport senior journalist
8 hours ago
“I’m thinking about the Ballon d’Or. I know that, with the season I have had, I am not far.”
Paris St-Germain striker Ousmane Dembele goes into Wednesday’s Club World Cup semi-final against Real Madrid tipped by many to claim this year’s prize for the world’s best player.
His goals have already helped a young and vibrant PSG side win the Champions League, Ligue 1 and Coupe de France this season – now he has his eyes on completing a quadruple in the United States.
Not only does the tie at the MetLife Stadium in New York pit the current European champions against the record winners of the competition, it also sees Dembele go head to head with friend and former PSG team-mate Kylian Mbappe.
Mbappe is PSG’s record goalscorer with 256 goals after joining them from Monaco on an initial loan in 2017, but it was not until after his departure that football’s holy grail – the Champions League – finally ended up in Paris.
Ironically, you could also credit Mbappe’s PSG exit last summer with paving the way for 28-year-old Dembele to have the greatest season of his career to date.
‘If he doesn’t win it there is a problem with the Ballon d’Or’
Most people believe this year’s Ballon d’Or – with the nominations due in August – is a straight race between France’s Dembele and Barcelona wonderkid Lamine Yamal. It has been eight years in the making for the former.
His talent has never been in question.
France striker Dembele was once the second-most expensive player in the world when he signed for Barcelona from Borussia Dortmund in a deal worth £135.5m in 2017 and, four years later, was described by Barca president Joan Laporta as “better than Mbappe”.
A week later, the newly-appointed Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez said he was a player who “when used properly, could be the best player in the world”.
Four years on and with his six-year spell of inconsistency and unfulfilled potential at Barcelona behind him, Dembele is certainly being used properly.
He has scored 34 goals and made 15 assists in 51 matches in all competitions in the season of his life so far, with those close to him adamant his form warrants the ultimate accolade on 22 September.
PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi told DAZN before Wednesday’s heavyweight semi-final: “Ousmane’s season is magnificent.
“If he doesn’t win it, there is a problem with the Ballon d’Or. He has done everything.”
PSG needed a new talisman – step forward Dembele
In August 2023, PSG bought the France international for just £43.5m, and he scored six goals and made 14 assists as PSG won the league and cup double.
He was far from the main man though with club-record scorer Mbappe netting 44 in all competitions in the best of his seven seasons for PSG. It turned out to be his last as Real Madrid came calling.
A new-look PSG needed a new leader and talisman. Step forward Dembele.
Last summer, manager Luis Enrique told Dembele that without Mbappe in the team he needed more goals from him to go with his large number of assists – carte blanche for the player to show a more selfish approach with less passing and a bigger desire to score.
In private, the coaching staff have frequently told him that if he managed to convert a decent percentage of the chances he creates, it could lead to collective success and then individual honours.
Dembele took it all on board and has relished playing in his new tactical role.
In 2023-24, he was mostly played on the right. There was no way of dislodging Mbappe from the central role.
Now he operates as a false nine, inside, where he touches the ball more, enjoys a greater freedom to receive passes and participates in the build-up but with more chances to finish.
“Would I vote for Dembele? Yes,” Mbappe said when asked who should win the Ballon d’Or last month.
“I don’t think it needs much explaining. People are talking about Lamine Yamal and Dembele, but my choice is clear: I vote for Dembele.”
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Dembele was once Barca’s most-fined player – what changed?
To put Dembele’s transformation solely down to Mbappe’s Real move would be wrong. That was simply the final piece in the jigsaw.
Despite being largely injury free at Rennes and Dortmund, he sustained 14 muscle injuries in his time at the Nou Camp, spending 784 days sidelined.
Concerns over discipline and professionalism led the club to assign private chefs to him, while late nights because of gaming affected his training punctuality, making him the club’s most-fined player in recent years.
Still, when fit, his explosive pace and dribbling made him a game-changer, as he showed glimpses of the talent Barcelona invested in.
So what changed him?
Those that know Dembele best – and few do – say he changed after marrying his girlfriend Rima in Morocco in December 2021, and soon after he had a child.
The wedding came as a surprise to many of his team-mates, not least because they did not even know he had a partner.
So the big changes to his life occurred in his last two seasons at Barcelona when, essentially, he grew up.
Dembele worked at home with a physiotherapist and frequently went to France to receive specialised preventative treatments. With the eyes and mind of a father, he began to see things differently.
He finally took on board the importance of good nutrition and, for the past few seasons, has employed a French nutritionist who has helped him maintain a healthier lifestyle.
For some time many believed that a Champions League triumph for PSG would be dependent on the on-field achievements of one of France’s heroes.
They were right – just not with Mbappe, but a rejuvenated Dembele.
