When he stepped up to take his penalty during the shootout at Anfield, Ousmane Dembele offered a glimpse of the multidimensional threat he carries at all times — even in the most adverse conditions. The Champions League round-of-16 tie against Liverpool had entered its climax, the anxiety was at breaking point, but it appeared to make no difference to Dembele.
The Paris Saint-Germain attacker shaped as if he were about to kick his penalty left-footed, then shuffled around to smash it in right-footed. Even if Alisson — near impenetrable over two legs — hadn’t bought Dembele’s bluff, he would have had to invest some energy in considering it. For, the Frenchman is a rare ambipedal footballer, so strong with both feet that an old video of a dumbfounded journalist asking Dembele which foot he preferred remains a popular meme.
On the fast track
It was Dembele’s astonishing skill and trickery with both feet that made him Barcelona’s most expensive signing for an eye-watering €105 million (plus 40 million in add-ons) in 2017. His time as a teenager at Rennes and Borussia Dortmund had many in the football world — scouts, data analysts, sporting directors, coaches and players — convinced that he was on track to becoming one of the game’s best. The move to Barcelona as a 20-year-old, to replace Neymar and play alongside Lionel Messi, seemed the defining step in his inevitable ascension to greatness.
But the hero arc did not quite play out in the manner many expected it to. Dembele’s time at Camp Nou was a blend of injury setbacks, off-field issues and wasteful finishing. There were still jaw-dropping moments, trophy success, even occasional signs that he may yet realise his phenomenal potential. But a return of 40 goals and 41 assists from 185 matches over six seasons wasn’t the elite attacking output big European clubs pay a premium for.
When he moved to Paris in 2023, it appeared as though Dembele would live out the rest of his footballer life as a very good player, just not quite a Ballon D’Or contender. But a story that has defied expectations defied that expectation, too. For, it is at PSG this year that Dembele appears to have assumed his final form as the unstoppable force many foresaw a decade ago.
After his dazzling performance over two legs against Liverpool, in which the Reds defence just couldn’t live with his menacing movement, mazy dribbling and creative passing, Dembele scored in PSG’s 3-1 win over Marseille at the Parc des Princes in a meeting of the top two in Ligue 1 before the international break. The goal took the 27-year-old’s tally to 30 for PSG in all competitions this season. This includes a run of 25 goals since mid-December and 22 in 2025, more than any other player in Europe’s top-five leagues.
Can’t be touched: As a roaming No. 9 in central areas, Dembele is a nightmare to defend against. He can beat his marker off either foot on either side. | Photo credit: Getty Images
The key to Dembele’s emergence as a prolific scorer within a free-flowing system on offence is his move from the wing to the middle. In central areas as a roaming No. 9, his two-footedness makes him a nightmare to defend against. He was one of the world’s best small-space dribblers on the wing, but defenders could, in theory if not always in practice, use the touchline to restrict his progress. That simply isn’t an option in the centre, where he can beat you off either foot on either side. Once he does that, he is much closer to goal than he would have been starting wide.
As Dembele said of his switch to No. 9, “As soon as I take the best of a player [beat my marker], I find myself in front of goal. I have the lucidity to score.”
Filling an Mbappe-sized hole
A lot of credit should go to manager Luis Enrique, who came up with the idea of Dembele as a centre-forward working seamlessly with wingers Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Bradley Barcola. Kylian Mbappe’s decision to leave for Real Madrid last summer opened the door for Enrique to impose his views that a well-oiled unit would be more efficient than a squad relying on the genius of the France superstar. An interesting fall-out of Enrique’s decision appears to be the inception of another French superstar.
Enrique said he is imposing no limits on how good Dembele can become as a scorer. “Back when I played PlayStation as a kid, he was the kind of player you’d choose when you needed someone to change the game,” said Enrique. “Ousmane has always been a different player, whatever his position. He can dribble past two or three players, make decisive passes and score goals. He was already good last season but in 2025 he is even better.
“Right now, he is in an absolutely spectacular phase. His statistics have exploded compared to the beginning of his career, that’s obvious. He has to be important for the team, not just scoring goals. I believe that Ousmane, very clearly, can become one of the leaders of the team.”
Interestingly, the Enrique-Dembele relationship hasn’t been all smooth. A tipping point came last November when the manager dropped his forward for disciplinary reasons, saying he did it for the good of the team. “When a player doesn’t meet their obligations, this is the sort of thing that can happen,” he said. L’Equipe reported that Enrique and Dembele had verbally clashed, but the manager claimed there had been no argument.
Fantasy pick: PSG manager Luis Enrique refuses to impose limits on Dembele’s goal-scoring potential. ‘Back when I played PlayStation, he was the kind of player you’d choose to change the game,’ says Enrique. | Photo credit: Getty Images
Whatever the truth, the episode coincided with the start of Dembele’s world-beating run. And even as he has scored loads of goals, he has not coasted defensively. Enrique demands a high work-rate off the ball, one of the “obligations” all his players have to meet. Dembele’s out-of-possession diligence and pressing intensity have not slipped.
Living up to his word
The 27-year-old has proven an all-action, all-angles centre-forward, harrying defenders to win possession, dropping deep to knit play, attacking from wide to change things up. He had made a bet with his teammates at the start of the season that he would hit 30 goals, with the promise of a luxury watch in return as an incentive. But even that doesn’t fully explain his newly evident hunger to score, perhaps best seen in successive hat-tricks in a 4-1 away thrashing of Stuttgart in the Champions League and a 5-2 Ligue 1 demolition of Brest.
Even as he has become PSG’s main man, he seems to have bought into Enrique’s team-first vision. “The players, whether it’s Bradley Barcola, Desire Doue or Kvara [Kvaratskhelia], give me great service,” he said. “The team is in a good dynamic. Everyone is focused and playing really well and that helps me to score goals if I am in the right positions.”
Another Ligue 1 title has been all but secured. If Dembele can light up the business end of the Champions League, a career-defining season will gain immortality.
Published – March 21, 2025 11:49 pm IST
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