Dembele's fairy tale - path from puberty to Ballon d'Or

We can talk about conspiracy theories and point out that the award is given by a French newspaper and that the Ballon d’Or ceremony takes place there. We can also quote Munir Nasraoui, father of Lamine Yamal, who said that France Football caused great moral damage to his son, because it’s obvious that he is by far the best player on the planet.

But we can also be honest and admit that Ousmane Dembele absolutely deserved the award for the best footballer in the world in the 2024/2025 season. Both because of how he played, and because his story is no less inspiring than Yamal’s immigrant background.

He is the best: Dembele wins Ballon d'Or

Because Ousmane Dembele was in real danger of his legacy being nothing more than mocking comments and stories about a guy with immense talent but no brains. The Frenchman was the very definition of a boy trapped in the body of a footballer, a kid who, to the horror of then-Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller, jumped at Barcelona’s first call so quickly that he even left his boots behind in Dortmund.

He was also the kid who would stay up all night on his computer and then not show up for training the next morning—something many linked to his 14 minor or major muscle injuries that kept him in the medical room for a total of 784 days.

Yamal's dad: 'It's the biggest moral damage to a human being'

Dembele was the player for whom Barcelona paid 148 milion euros, making him at the time the second, and now the third, most expensive footballer in history.

And then they let him go for a third of that price—almost with a sigh of relief, though also disappointment. This after he had become the club’s record-holder for fines due to lateness and similar childish behavior. He was the guy Luis Suarez supposedly wanted to kick out of the dressing room for being unprofessional.

The one Xavi begged the Camp Nou crowd not to boo during contract talks that were going nowhere. The one fans still remember for missing a huge chance against Liverpool with the score at 3–0 in the Champions League semifinal. The one who complained about being “blackmailed” by the club after four years of hearing only insults—only to stay another season?! He was the player Didier Deschamps subbed off in the 41st minute of the 2022 World Cup final.

Dembele was even the footballer Luis Enrique, less than a year ago, left behind in Paris when PSG traveled to face Arsenal.

“If someone doesn’t want to comply or respect the expectations of the team, that means they’re not ready to play. I’m here to build a team, and in that team Ousmane Dembele might play in the future,” thundered Enrique—sending a clear message that Dembele might not play at all.

When Dembele received the award last night, he said Enrique was like a father to him. And how could he not, when under Enrique he had by far the best season of his career—one of many very good ones.

A stunning 35 goals and 16 assists. A Champions League crown, where he scored eight times and set up another six goals for teammates. In April, when Arsenal and PSG met again at the Emirates, this time in the semifinal, Dembele scored the only goal of the match. In the epic 5–0 win over Inter in the final, he delivered two assists and a flawless performance.

Enrique tips French international to win Ballon d’Or this year

“The way he defended—that alone is worthy of the Ballon d’Or. That’s how you lead a team. With goals, titles, leadership, defending, pressing… Mr. Ousmane Dembele is my Ballon d’Or, I have no doubt,” said an ecstatic Luis Enrique.

The talent, of course, had always been there. There’s the famous clip of young Dembele—born in Normandy to a father with roots in Mauritius and Senegal and a mother from Mali—when, while playing for Rennes, a journalist asked him if he was left- or right-footed. Ousmane replied: “Hmm, left-footed.” When the journalist asked why he had then taken a penalty with his right foot, Dembele simply answered: “Because I shoot better with it.”

That was also evident when PSG knocked Liverpool out on penalties last season—Dembele lined up as if to shoot with his left, then switched stride and scored with his right. That boyhood period at Rennes is also interesting because back then Dembele played as a striker. Many coaches, led by Rolland Courbis, said he was best as a number 9 or 10. But when you’re that fast, it’s easy to shift you to the wing—especially when, at Barcelona, you’re competing with Suarez or Lionel Messi. Enrique remembered he could use him more often as a false nine. Dembele delivered.

And fate played its part. He came to PSG largely thanks to Kylian Mbappe’s encouragement, and when Mbappe left for Real Madrid, space opened for Dembele. He was lucky that his arrival coincided with Enrique’s, who once again became a father figure. That disciplinary episode at Arsenal was the clearest sign of the third and probably most important factor in Ousmane’s resurgence: his mental maturity.

Some players, like Yamal, explode so early and so brightly that they create a magnetic field around them, protecting them from sinking. Others shine briefly, but need time to transform from boys into men. From today’s perspective, it’s clear that the Frenchman entered professional football still a child. Video games, fast food, late mornings—it was all like a schoolkid who would rather sleep in than go to class.

Dembele himself admitted in his last season at Barcelona: “My lifestyle during my early years at Barça? It was the same as every young player, but I managed to pull myself out of it. From 2017 to 2022, I wasted a lot of time. I lost five years of my life… I injured my hamstring multiple times. Coaches kept insisting the injuries would keep coming back if I didn’t work harder. With Koeman I started progressing, with Xavi I went a step further.”

But it was Enrique who took him to the very top. Enrique, who himself endured the tragedy of losing his nine-year-old daughter to illness, yet accepted it with a philosophical outlook. He often said he was grateful for those nine years of pure joy. That genuine parental love now seems to have been passed on to Dembele.

Even before that, Dembele had prepared the ground for his leap forward. He hired a nutritionist, a chef, started working independently with personal fitness coaches. He finally realized raw talent wasn’t enough—especially as the years went by. That you can’t stay up playing PlayStation until 2 a.m. and then train in the morning. He understood that all those struggles at Barca weren’t accidental. That it was his own fault. And he decided to change.

Today he reaps the rewards. The mischievous boy from Vernon has grown up. Ousmane Dembele has become a man. And the sixth Frenchman to win the Ballon d’Or after Raymond Kopa, Michel Platini, Jean-Pierre Papin, Zinedine Zidane, and Karim Benzema. No other country has that many laureates.

The scale of Dembele’s achievement is best shown by the fact that in the streets of Paris, the most common shirts are no longer those of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Messi, Neymar, or Mbappe—but Dembele’s number 10. And while his “10” may not shine as brightly as Yamal’s in Barcelona, it will remain a reminder that talent without brains means nothing.

And also that, contrary to popular belief, sometimes it’s worth putting up with a slightly crazier head. And that some ugly ducklings, not only in fairy tales, are just waiting for someone to embrace them—so they can spread their wings.