Dembele is the team's star player, having won almost everything last season. And yet, the debate surrounding the player as to whether he really deserves the Ballon d'Or have never been so heated and important in recent months, as if the collective aspect and trophies won at club level were no longer important in the face of the emergence of a generational talent like Yamal.
And everyone is entitled to make up their own mind on the matter, even if we have the feeling that the aspect of teamwork and 'working behind the scenes' that was so important the night Rodri was crowned, was no longer so topical at the end of May or the beginning of June.
Be that as it may, as the weeks have gone by, a Club World Cup has taken place, and Dembele has continued to influence PSG positively. Paris may not have won the Club World Cup, but they have continued to shock the football world.
Although he was injured during the group stage, the Frenchman returned for the latter stages. Initially coming on as a substitute against Inter Miami and Bayern Munich, before starting against Real Madrid and Chelsea.
The native of Evreux maintained the momentum displayed in the second half of the season, scoring two important goals against Bayern and Real.
Finally, he started off the new season by winning another trophy, the UEFA Super Cup. In short, even if PSG are "first and foremost a group", as Luis Enrique likes to say, Dembele is still the player who sets his attack apart. And that's evident both visually and statistically.
A record-breaking season for Dembele
When we say record-breaking season, we're talking about the collective aspect, of course, but also the individual. Paris won the first quadruple in the history of French football, with Ousmane Dembélé an integral and major part of that conquest.
And of course, we have to remember the night Luis Enrique left the Frenchman out at the Emirates. That technical choice was probably a trigger for what followed, as the Spaniard implied back in February: "The best thing I did with Dembele was not to play him against Arsenal, when everyone criticised me. That was my best decision this year."
Before adding: "The rest is Ousmane Dembele's doing, with his teammates, his team, his qualities, his confidence, what he brings as a player. He did that on his own. On the other hand, the London event was an important decision.
And before talking about figures and statistics, it is important to mention just how important the PSG striker has been in the Asturian's system. Repositioned as a nine, Dembele became the first pressing and counter-pressing player so important to the team.
The images of Sommer's six-yarder in the Champions League final come to mind, as he positioned himself on the 16.5-metre line, ready to pounce on the first Inter player to avoid a short throw-in.
Leaders are respected for what they do, not for what they say, and that's how the Frenchman earned the respect of everyone above all else. His work was crucial to the collective effort, that famous integral and essential part of the Ballon d'Or 2024 votes. But Dembele has not only been a player of the collective, he has also marked his club's history with individual differences.
Voted player of the year in the Champions League, Dembele scored eight goals and provided six assists in 15 matches, making him the most decisive PSG player in a single season in the Champions League.
If he adds up 33 goals and 13 assists over the season, he is the second-highest scorer since the start of 2025 among players playing for a top-five European club (27 goals).
Above all, he is the player involved in the most goals in this famous European quintet in all competitions combined in 2025 (36). He scored one goal every 81 minutes in 2025, the second-best ratio behind Alexander Sorloth (74). Finally, on the domestic front, with 21 goals to his name, Dembele has officially been crowned top scorer in Ligue 1 for the 2024-2025 season, a first in his career.
Yamal is a generational talent, already too strong for his age, who is certainly the best, or at least one of the best intrinsically, and who will have time to win it all. Not to give it to Dembele this season, the year of all collective and individual records, would surely be nonsense with the very essence of football. Indeed, what do you make of the very principle of team sport? In short, see you on September 22nd.
