Ousmane Dembélé to tour Africa with Ballon d’Or trophy

France international of Malian descent Ousmane Dembélé is expected to tour Africa with the Ballon d’Or accolade.

Dembele, who plies his trade for Paris Saint Germain was crowned as the best Men’s Player of the Year at the awards ceremony held in Paris on Monday night.

The pacey winger, who also has Senegalese and Equatorial Guinea root beat off competition from Spanish-Moroccan, Lamine Yamal to secure the prestigious accolade.

Dembele becomes the sixth Frenchman to scoop the award after Raymond Kopa, Michel Platini, Jean-Pierre Papin, Zinédine Zidane, and Karim Benzema.

He is also the first PSG player to win the greatest individual prize in world football since Lionel Messi in 2023. The Rennes Academy graduate’s triumph comes as little surprise, given that he previously scooped the UEFA Champions League Player of the Season award. Dembélé proved instrumental in leading Les Parisiens to their first European Cup title.

However, Dembele’s mother has revealed plans to tour Africa with the Ballon d’Or accolade.

“This is the Ballon d’Or for all of Africa. We will take it to Senegal, we will take it everywhere,” she said.

Dembélé was practically in a league of his own last season, with 35 goals and 16 assists in 53 games played for Luis Enrique’s team.