OUSMANE DEMBELE

Men's World Player of the Year

- Jamie Evans

It is not unusual for the World Soccer Player and Manager of the Year to come from the same club, but it is not always the case that the success of each is so dependent on the other. In 2025, Luis Enrique unlocked a level of consistency from Ousmane Dembele that no other manager has been able to, while Dembele became the face and the focal point of the Spaniard’s Champions League-winning team.

In the eyes of most observers, the departure of Kylian Mbappe in the summer of 2024 resembled something of a disaster for Paris Saint-Germain. For coach Luis Enrique, it presented an opportunity. An opportunity to build a team with more cohesion, more energy, and one not solely focused on providing a platform for its most high-profile player.

It also provided an opportunity for another player to fill Mbappe’s boots, not just as the team’s talisman but also as its centre-forward. That opportunity fell to Dembele

Those words came in early February, when Dembele's transformation from mercurial winger to clinical striker had become clear. After a solid but unspectacular start to the season, with five goals by the first week of December, Dembele exploded just in time for the New Year. “You'd have to ask him what he ate at Christmas,” added Luis Enrique after his striker had just scored his 18th goal in ten matches.