For a long time, Ousmane Dembele was regarded as one of the most exciting attacking talents in the game, but one who was failing to consistently meet his undeniable potential.
After impressive back-to-back seasons at Rennes and Borussia Dortmund, the Frenchman made a £135million move to Barcelona in 2017, a fee which made him the second-most expensive player ever at the time.
Dembele was just 20 years old at the time, and with such a fee comes huge pressure, with a stop-start beginning to his Barca career causing many to question whether the Catalans had overpaid for the forward.
Frank Leboeuf on how Dembele reached his potential
After struggling with injuries and failing to live up to his vast fee in Barcelona, Dembele joined Paris Saint-Germain in 2023 for a more modest £43.5million fee, but again there would be something of a roadblock for him at the Parc des Princes.
This time it would be the presence of Kylian Mbappe in the team, as Dembele would often have to play second fiddle to his countryman.
This is something that former France defender Frank Leboeuf believes, as he claims Mbappe’s 2024 exit has been key in the making of Dembele, alongside a greater focus on training and well-being.
“I used to have the feeling, whenever I saw Ousmane lining up to play alongside Kylian for PSG, that there was a slight inferiority complex,” the former Chelsea man tells FourFourTwo.
“Almost as if he played down his own ability in order to serve Kylian,”
Given how Dembele’s career has blossomed over the past two seasons, Lebeouf may have a point.
Dembele has netted 55 times and provided 27 assists since Mbappe’s exit, helping PSG to maintain their stranglehold on Ligue 1, while also winning back-to-back Champions League titles - the first in the club’s history.
The 29-year-old has also won the game’s most prestigious individual honour when he claimed the Ballon d’Or last year, with Lebouef adding that there is recent precedent in players stepping out of the shadow of an iconic star to excel.
“That’s nothing new in football, and we saw it with Karim Benzema at Real Madrid,” he adds.
“When Cristiano Ronaldo left, only then did he become the star.”
