Paris Saint-Germain star Ousmane Dembele has named two England legends among his favourite players of all-time.
Dembele announced as 2025 Ballon d'Or winner in Paris
PSG won their maiden Champions League crown in 2025, and Dembele was paramount to their success, picking up eight goals and six assists across 15 matches in the competition, while also amassing 29 goal contributions in Ligue 1.
As such, the Frenchman had been the favourite for the 2025 Ballon d’Or for quite some time, and he was crowned the winner at the ceremony in Paris on Monday evening, with Lamine Yamal, Vitinha, Mohamed Salah and Raphinha making up the top five.
Having failed to deliver at Barcelona, the 28-year-old’s career has undergone a major transformation since he returned to his home country, and the PSG talisman delivered an emotional speech after being confirmed as the 2025 winner.
Courtesy of scooping up the award, the winger joins a prestigious list of just ten players to have won the Ballon d’Or, Champions League and World Cup, having been part of the France squad that went all the way at Russia 2018.
Lionel Messi is one of the other players on that acclaimed list, and it will come as no surprise that Dembele once named the Argentina star as one of his favourite players of all time, but two England legends also make up the top three.
“Number one is Lionel Messi. I’m a fan of Barcelona, so Lionel Messi is a big legend. In number two, David Beckham, this is the first football jersey that I got. In number three, Steven Gerrard. I was a fan of Liverpool.”
Gerrard named as England's "greatest ever" player by Messi
It is a bit of a surprise to see the Liverpool fan pick Beckham over Gerrard, as Messi himself once claimed the Liverpool legend is the best player England have produced, saying: “Personally, I think Steven Gerrard is England’s greatest ever player. I wish him a happy retirement.”
The 45-year-old was arguably one of the only reasons Liverpool were successful during his era, with the former captain instigating the dramatic comeback against AC Milan in the 2005 Champions League, and scoring some incredible long-range goals.
Beckham was also fantastic at striking the ball from distance, having scored the most goals from direct free kicks in the history of the Premier League.
David Beckham
18
James Ward-Prowse
17
Thierry Henry
12
Gianfranco Zola
12
Cristiano Ronaldo
12
Consequently, both Gerrard and Beckham make their way onto the 20 best midfielders in Premier League history, alongside Kevin De Bruyne, Roy Keane and more.
The former Liverpool and Man United stars are undoubtedly legends of the game, but Dembele has also now cemented his place in the history books, courtesy of his 2025 Ballon d’Or triumph.