Ousmane Dembele is one of those footballers who makes you sit up and watch. This French player, with his quick feet and clever moves, can get past defenders like they’re standing still.
Sure, he’s had some injuries, but when he’s on the field and feeling good, there’s hardly anyone who can stop him.
Let’s dive into the story of this exciting player and see what makes him so special.
His transfer fee made an absolute fortune for Borussia Dortmund when they sold him to Barcelona, but did Barca recoup their costs? And just how much did PSG pay for him?
Ousmane Dembele At Dortmund
Ousmane Dembele was born on 15 May 1997 in Vernon, France. His football journey began at Stade Rennais F.C., where he started his professional debut in 2015.
With 12 goals in 26 appearances. Borussia Dortmund took notice, and in May 2016, Dembélé transferred to the Bundesliga for a fee reported to be around €35 million.
In the 2016-2017 season, he played a crucial role in Dortmund’s attack, scoring 10 goals with 21 assists across all competitions.
But his success at the club was short-lived. Barcelona had just lost Neymar Jr. to Paris Saint-Germain, and the club was in urgent need of a replacement.
Dembélé was identified as one of the top talents who could fill the void, and once he heard that, he was pretty much out the door.
The fact that Barcelona was willing to spend big to secure his services helped ease the pain for Dortmund, who eventually agreed on a €135 million transfer fee.
He left for sunnier pastures in Spain on August 25th 2017.
Barcelona & Dembele
Hopes were high, but very early into his career at Barcelona, Dembele was sidelined with a hamstring injury which would rule him out for nearly four months.
Eventually, the physios gave him an all-clear to feature in the squad, only to be injured again two weeks later.
Another month was added to his recovery time, but when Ousmane was finally fit, fans in the Camp Nou were delighted.
Dembélé’s tenure at Barcelona was a mix of brilliance and challenges. While he displayed moments of sheer quality, his time was marred by injuries.
He suffered from hamstring injuries seven times, missing over 500 days of football just from them alone.
In the time he did get to play at Barcelona, Dembélé won La Liga (2017-2018), the Copa del Rey (2017-2018, 2020-2021), and the Supercopa de España (2018).
Dembele Moves To PSG
To say his time at Barcelona was a mixed bag was an understatement. He could have been great but injury after injury stunted his progress.
That didn’t stop Barcelona from fetching a decent price for him in the 2023 Summer transfer window, though.
They sold him to Paris Saint Germaine for €50 million, him earning a reported €20 million per season.
The move came as a surprise to many but Dembele’s contract with Barcelona was set to expire on June 30, 2024, meaning he could have left for free.
Plus, there was a release clause of €50.4 million in his contract, which is a relatively low amount for a club like PSG.
So how has he settled in at his new home? Again, it’s been a mixed bag with no goals to show for his hard work (at the time of writing), and with only two assists, fans are eager for him to start finding the back of the net on a regular basis.
Given his status as a talented French player, the initial excitement of signing him has been dampened by quite a few underwhelming performances.
Following the exits of Neymar and Lionel Messi, and there were hopes that Ousmane Dembele, alongside Kylian Mbappé, would give the team the boost it needed.
However, overall, PSG has been less than stellar this season. They are only third in the Ligue 1 table, behind Monaco and Nice but there is still plenty of time for the team to gel and move up a couple of spots.
In fact, if you look at the odds for Outright Winner of Ligue 1, you wouldn’t think there were any issues given that PSG are 1/6 ON to win the title with some bookmakers.
