UEFA.com's weekly wonderkid: Ousmane Dembélé
Saturday, March 19, 2016
Article summary
"Ligue 1 is already too small for him." Meet an 18-year-old Rennes forward who is being tipped for a UEFA EURO 2016 call-up and has reportedly had Barcelona scouting him.
Article top media content
Article body
Ousmane Dembélé only made his Ligue 1 debut in November but after nine goals already, the teenager reportedly has Barcelona watching and others tipping him for France's UEFA EURO 2016 squad.
Name: Ousmane Dembélé
Club: Rennes
Debut: 6 November 2015 v Angers
Position: forward
Nationality: French
Date of birth: 15 May 1997
Preferred foot: both
Height: 1.77m
They say ...
"Ligue 1 is already too small for him. It makes me laugh because people were saying he was too weak; I was told there were hundreds of players like him."
Yannick Menu, former Stade Rennais academy director
"I'm going to be blunt: one day Ousmane Dembélé will feature in the Ballon d'Or shortlist."
Mikaël Silvestre, Rennes adviser
Background ...
Dembélé left home-town club Évreux aged 13 for the Rennes academy. He represented France at various ages and signed his first professional contract – a three-year deal – in October 2015 after tough negotiations which at one point saw him refusing to train with the first team. That is all forgotten now, however, on the evidence of the forward's nine goals in 17 league appearances.
Playing style ...
Dembélé's small physique is offset by his speed, invention and technique. "He's a proper forward. Thanks to his changes of direction he can easily wrongfoot opponents," says Ludovic Batelli, the attacker's France Under-19 coach. The 18-year-old is very technical with both feet and has a knack of scoring brilliant goals. And so far his side have never lost when he has registered in Ligue 1.
Shades of ...
"I saw Cristiano Ronaldo when he arrived at Manchester United at the same age. Ousmane shows similar attributes," says ex-United and France defender Silvestre. "He reminds me of Cristiano and Wayne Rooney too. They both had great potential and great maturity which meant they quickly became important to the team."
Eureka moment ...
If Ligue 1 observers were already discussing Dembélé in reverential tones, he eclipsed all that had gone before with a first-half hat-trick in the derby against Nantes on 6 March. His first strike, inside 60 seconds of what would be a 4-1 home victory, was opportunistic, the second a free-kick, before a fine solo effort on the break. At 18 years and nine months, he became the youngest player to net a Ligue 1 treble since Jérémy Ménez in 2005.
Best-case scenario ...
Barcelona scouts were reportedly among the crowd as Ousmane lit up the Derby Breton and there are already calls for his inclusion in France's senior ranks ahead of UEFA EURO 2016. He could emulate Thierry Henry, a relative unknown prior to the 1998 FIFA World Cup, before he announced himself with three goals during a victorious summer.
He says ...
"My dream is to play for Barcelona. The Liga is a tough league but I'm inspired by players like Neymar and Messi. You have to work very hard to reproduce what they do, especially Neymar. I also like the Bundesliga – they like attacking, don't ask questions and like playing football."
Ousmane Dembélé in February on beIN Sports