Ousmane Dembélé a ‘credible candidate’ to win Ballon d’Or – Mattéo Guendouzi | OneFootball

Ousmane Dembélé (27) is in the form of his life. Repositioned as a No.9, Dembélé has shown a completely different facet to his game, netting an incredible 22 goals in just 17 games in 2025. “Given his form at the minute, he shouldn’t set himself any limits,” said his compatriot and former Paris Saint-Germain teammate Kylian Mbappé. Even the Ballon d’Or is not out of reach, according to Mattéo Guendouzi.

It is Mbappé’s departure from PSG that has allowed Dembélé to play through the middle this season and to devastating effect. The PSG forward is expected to continue in that role for France when they face Croatia in the UEFA Nations League on Thursday night.

Mbappé ‘even more excited’ to play with Dembélé

“I’m always excited to play with him, even more when you see his form! If we have an Ousmane as good as at PSG, we (France) are going to win matches,” said Mbappé, previewing Thursday night’s game in Split.

For Guendouzi, who also spoke to the press ahead of Les Bleus’ Nations League quarter-final first-leg, Dembélé has thrown his name into the Ballon d’Or conversation. “What he is doing makes him a credible candidate for the Ballon d’Or. He has always had the potential to do that. He is one of the best players in the world, even without the goals, top three at the moment, but he’s adding statistics. He is just confirming what we have thought for a long time. There are plenty of players that are starting to be scared of him,” said the Lazio midfielder.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle