Ronaldinho on Ousmane Dembélé: ‘He has a bit of a Brazilian style.’ | OneFootball

There is a certain resemblance between Ousmane Dembélé (27) and Ronaldinho – not only in terms of the clubs that they have played for but also in terms of play style, as the Brazilian told L’Équipe.

Both Ronaldinho and have played for Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona, even if the order in which they played for the clubs is inversed. Dembélé had a consistent albeit not explosive first season at PSG following his big-money move from Barcelona, however, he has taken his game to the next level this season.

Derided for much of his career for his lack of end product, the France international has been in exceptional goal-scoring form in recent months. No player in Europe’s top five divisions has scored more than the Stade Rennais academy product in 2025 and with 32 goals in 40 games in all competitions this season, he has put himself in the race for the Ballon d’Or, a prize that Ronaldinho won back in 2005.

Dembélé – from the ‘destabiliser’ to the goalscorer

The Brazilian sees a bit of himself in Dembélé, even if he shirked away from a direct comparison. “I don’t like to compare too much… but there is Ousmane Dembélé at PSG. I like him a lot,” began Ronaldinho when asked which current player most closely resembles his style of play.

He added, “He has a bit of a Brazilian style! He throws you off balance, he is inventive, he provokes, he is often unreadable, and he scores lot of goals, too, exploding in a different role to the one that he had at PSG last year or even before that at Barcelona.”

Dembélé’s recent goal-scoring form is attributed to a recent change in positioning. The Frenchman, described as “the most destabilising player in the world” last season by Luis Enrique, is not featuring centrally having spent the rest of his career out on the right. It is a repositioning that has had a significant effect and one that now sees Dembélé included in the Ballon d’Or conversation.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle