At 28 years old, Ousmane Dembélé, Paris Saint-Germain winger, spoke to Onze Mondial on a topic that fascinates observers: the supposed decline of “thrill players” in modern football. The French international wanted to reassure fans, stressing the constant emergence of young talents and asserting that the future of spectacular football is in no danger.
Dembélé: “No worries about the future of football”
“Football purists and observers say there are fewer and fewer ‘thrill players’ like you. Should we worry about the future of world football?”
“I don’t agree with that. There will always be thrill players in football. After all… (he exhales). Sometimes people don’t tell the truth, they can be wrong or say anything (laughs). There will always be thrill players in football, all over the world. Just watch TV — there are young talents emerging everywhere. No worries about the future of football.”
Dembélé: “Personally, I’ve never been driven by stats”
“Stats take up more and more space in football. Are you attracted to your stats?”
“Yes, stats are part of the football world, but personally, I’ve never been drawn to them. They’ve never driven me. People have always asked me to score goals and provide assists. But yes, statistics play a huge role in football. You can look at players who make few assists or score less, but who are far more important than the one who finishes. Sometimes people don’t actually watch games — they only remember the scorer or the assister — but in match analysis there are other players who are very important.”
By nature, football will always be a sport of thrills. Its global popularity makes it a unique stage of expression where each generation brings its share of talents capable of dazzling fans. Ousmane Dembélé, at 28, highlights this perfectly: you only need to turn on the television to see new faces emerging, ready to make history.
Football moves in cycles: some periods seem dominated by tactical rigor, others by creative explosion, but balance always returns. The beauty of the sport lies in this constant renewal, where every World Cup or Champions League reveals an unexpected gem. It’s this ability to reinvent itself — without ever losing its spectacular soul — that makes football an endless source of emotion and ensures that “thrill players” will always have their place.
