Ousmane Dembélé has broken his silence and has spoken at length about his departure from FC Barcelona, about the poor season he has had at PSG and much more in an extensive interview with the newspaper L'Equipe. “It was written that one day he would sign for PSG,” he confesses.
The French winger acknowledges that his intention was to stay at FC Barcelona, but that they made him change his mind in Paris: “Yes, I said I would stay at Barcelona, but after talking to PSG I was convinced that I had to leave. "It was more Paris that made me change my mind than not leaving Barcelona."
Dembélé, of whom Xavi Hernández said he felt “disappointed” after his departure from the Catalan club, remembers that together with the Blaugrana coach he has lived his best version: “They were my two best years, with a coach (Xavi Hernández) who trusted me. But I wanted to sign for PSG."
The 26-year-old footballer is full of praise for the French club and denies that it was Kylian Mbappé who convinced him to pack his bags: “I signed for PSG because it is a French club and I love it. There wasn't even a call from Kylian. He asked me if he was coming, that's all. He didn't try to convince me or anything. I come from Évreux, not far from here. Here everyone talks about Paris Saint-Germain and it was written that one day he would sign for this club. I have many friends, supporters of the club, who always tried to convince me to come.”
The Parisian club had been tracking the French winger for years: “PSG and the president [Nasser al-Khelaïfi] had been interested for a long time. When I was in Dortmund (2016-2017) we began to have the first contacts. At that time my goal was to play for Barcelona. There were also contacts in 2019 and then this summer. The president once again showed that he really wanted to sign me. Then I spoke with the coach and Luis Campos. “I immediately liked the project.”
But their idyll in Paris is not starting well. In the 13 games he has played for PSG he has yet to score a goal. “I have to give a little more,” he acknowledges: “The more games that go by, the better off I will be.” Although he adds: “Not only goals count. I don't judge my performances by the goals I score. You can score a goal and play a bad game and you can not score and have been very good. But I will improve my statistics. I sleep very well at night and always trust myself. Even when it doesn't work out, I try again."
Dembélé is confident in his potential and everything he can contribute to PSG despite the lack of goals: “I don't need everyone's trust or for people to say what a nice game I played. I am someone who is very confident and will always try. My role is to dribble, create chances. “It's a risky game, you can't do everything right.”
During the extensive talk, the 26-year-old player also talks about Luis Enrique and what it is like to train under him: “Luis Enrique and I communicate a lot. We have known each other for a long time because he wanted to bring me to Barcelona when I was still in Rennes. I told him at the time that I was going to sign for Dortmund but that was the first contact I had with him. He is someone who talks a lot with his players, who is very funny and who expects a lot from players like me.” He assures that the Spanish coach is much funnier than he shows to the press: “With us Luis Enrique is very calm, very simple, he makes a lot of jokes. Later, when he gets serious, he is no longer the same.”
Finally, regarding Paris Saint-Germain's objectives this season, he maintains that the club "is not obsessed" with winning the Champions League: "It is not the club's main objective." “Before coming here I thought that they only talked about the Champions League, but at the club we are not only focused on this,” he concludes.
