Ousmane Dembélé wins Ballon d'Or after being offered to Benfica | OneFootball

Ousmane Dembélé is the new winner of the Ballon D'or, which gives him the title of the best player in the world. The trophy was awarded at the ceremony organized by France Football, in which João Neves was present. Now in the limelight, it is known that Dembélé was offered to Benfica about ten years ago.

The information is provided by the newspaper A Bola, which states that it was in 2015 that Ousmane Dembélé was close to becoming a player for the Club da Luz. Apparently, it was Vlado Lemic, former player and Serbian businessman, who offered the forward to Benfica, who was trying to force his way out of Rennes.

At the time, the player was 18 years old and had recently been promoted to the main team of Rennes. The footballer was discussed internally and, unanimously, those involved concluded that Dembélé had immense potential if he were to be signed by the eagles.

However, despite the financial conditions initially seeming favorable, the strong competition from other European giants, as well as the investment that would have to be made in wages and signing bonuses, ended up making the deal unfeasible.

In addition to this, at the time, Dembélé was only 18 years old, which meant that he was an uncertain bet, considering that his immediate integration into Benfica's main team was unlikely. The footballer would end up signing a new contract with Rennes in October 2015.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.