Why Ousmane Dembélé Is Rated Higher Than Mohamed Salah, Lamine Yamal for Ballon d’Or | OneFootball

Ousmane Dembélé is playing the best football of his career for Paris Saint-Germain. The Frenchman has stepped up to carry the team offensively at times in the post-Kylian Mbappé era and delivered in big Champions League moments to strengthen his Ballon d’Or case.

This season, the 27-year-old has scored 33 goals and recorded 12 assists in 45 appearances for PSG across all competitions. Furthermore, some of his goals have come in essential moments in the Champions League.

Dembélé scored against Manchester City and a hat-trick against VfB Stuttgart to advance to the knockout stage. In the knockout stage, he scored goals against Stade Brestois, Liverpool, and Arsenal, while he recorded two assists in the tie against Aston Villa.

Could Ousmane Dembélé win the Ballon d’Or?

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As a result, the Frenchman has entered the Ballon d’Or conversation, and L’Equipe Vincent Duluc believes Dembélé should win the award over the likes of Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal or Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, especially if PSG advances to the Champions League final and wins it.

“If I had to vote tonight? Right now, I’d vote for Dembélé because he scored, his team won away, and he scored the only goal of the match,” Duluc said. “And his stats over the last seven months have been exceptional. But I’d also say that Yamal has time—he’ll have chances to win later. But that’s not necessarily a good reason either.”

PSG are 90 minutes away from advancing to the Champions League final, Dembélé picked up an injury in the first leg and it will be interesting to see if Luis Enrique can get minutes off the bench.