Ousmane Dembele: From setback to success

By Ooreoluwa Emmanuel

Ousmane Dembele is a French footballer who plays for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-German and the France national team.

Ousmane started his senior career in France 2014-16 playing for Rennes where he won Ligue 1 Young player of the year and went to play for Borussia Dortmund in Germany where he was regarded as one of the most promising young talents in the world.

Barcelona came and bought him for an initial fee of €105 million, making him at the time the joint-second most expensive player in history.

Dembele didn’t have a good spell at Barcelona due to injuries. He couldn’t meet up with his expectations. Regardless of this, he still won trophies with the club.

People thought his career was over because of the injuries he had in 2023, Paris Saint-German offered to buy him making him go to the biggest club in France and prove himself.

In the 2024/25 season, he resurged himself acquiring 33 goals and 15 assists in 49 appearances as PSG won a continental treble.

He won individual honours like Ligue 1 Player of the Year; the Champions League Player of the Season, and of course the Ballon d’Or.

From setback to success, Ousmane Dembele didn’t give up because of his injuries he kept pushing and all his hard work paid off earning him the Ballon d’Or award.