Dembele winning the Ballon d’Or would be ultimate redemption

It took Paris Saint-Germain to shed their superstars to finally become European champions. Saturday’s 5-0 thumping of Inter Milan in the Champions League final was vindication of every decision the French giants have made over the last year. This was the performance of a team, Luis Enrique’s team, and not that of a collection of individuals.

That’s what PSG previously had when Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Neymar made up their forward line. The trio formed the most fearsome attack in football history on paper. On the pitch, though, they made PSG top-heavy and easy to play through. Now, they are a much more coherent outfit with an identity and energetic approach.

Ousmane Dembele has emerged as PSG’s difference-maker, elevating him into Ballon d’Or contention. 2025 has been the best year of the 28-year-old’s career to date with the Frenchman’s conversion into a centre forward a key moment in PSG’s development under Enrique. Dembele might now be the best player in the world.

It wasn’t so long ago that Dembele’s future at the Parc des Princes was in doubt. Enrique banished the attacker from PSG training at one point earlier in the season as concerns over Dembele’s commitment and worth ethic persisted. Many predicted that he would leave the club sooner rather than later.

Dembele suffered similar struggles at Barcelona. Signed for a monstrous £135m, the Frenchman failed to live up to his billing at the Camp Nou and was publicly called out for many of his bad habits, including playing video games late into the night. Nobody saw Dembele becoming one of the best players in the world after wasting so many seasons.

Talent has never been an issue for Dembele. It’s only now, though, that he has been given a platform to demonstrate his full ability with Enrique now just using the 28-year-old as a goal threat, but as someone who sets the tone for PSG from the front with his willingness to press and close down.

“Everyone is talking about the Ballon d’Or, but I would give it to Ousmane Dembele just because if we think about how he defended today, he showed just what he was made of,” said Enrique after the win over Inter. “He was a leader, he was humble, he got back down [the pitch] and he defended, and I think that without a shadow of a doubt he deserves this, not only for the goals that he scored but also for the pressing that was seen. We’ve seen such a season from him, but he was exceptional in this final.”

At 28, Dembele is one of the most experienced players in the PSG squad. The French giants possessed one of the youngest teams in this season’s Champions League with Desire Doue, Joao Neves, Nuno Mendes, Bradley Barcola and Willian Pacho all 23 or under. This is a side that will continue to grow and improve over the coming seasons.

Dembele will be up against the likes of Mohamed Salah, Lamine Yamal and Raphinha to win this year’s Ballon d’Or. All four players have a strong candidacy to be crowned the best player in the world, but Dembele’s redemption arc is unlike anyone else’s at the elite level of European football at this moment in time.

Enrique might have created the circumstances for Dembele to thrive, but the 28-year-old has made the most of them. He has made up for lost time by becoming PSG’s main man. The player who most starkly embodies the difference between this team and the previous PSG side that had plenty star players, but no Champions League trophy.