Ousmane Dembele Names Liverpool Legend in All-Time Top Three | OneFootball

Ousmane Dembele, Liverpool and the Echoes of Gerrard

In a season defined by near-misses and raw potential, Liverpool’s Champions League journey was halted by a familiar force with a deep-rooted reverence for Anfield. Ousmane Dembele—flamboyant, ferocious, and now fully in flight at Paris Saint-Germain—proved to be the decisive figure who edged the French champions past Arne Slot’s revitalised Reds.

That he did so with a goal and a nerveless penalty in front of the expectant crowd adds a poetic weight to his latest revelation.

Gerrard’s Name Carries Across Generations

Dembele’s roots in the game trace a path from the playgrounds of Vernon to the lights of Paris, but his imagination was shaped by distant icons. In a short video for the French national team’s official Instagram, the 28-year-old beamed with nostalgia as he named Steven Gerrard among his three favourite players of all time.

As he mentioned the Liverpool legend, the camera caught Ibrahima Konate’s delighted reaction—half a laugh, half a cheer. Even Adrien Rabiot, sat nearby, offered a knowing nod. For a generation of French players, Gerrard isn’t just a name in Premier League history books.

Sliding Doors and Missed Connections

Liverpool came close to signing Dembele in 2016 when he left Rennes, and it’s not difficult to imagine how transformative that might have been. Under Jürgen Klopp, with speed and flair already forming the club’s attacking identity, Dembele could have flourished.

Instead, his path led to Dortmund, Barcelona, and now Paris, where Luis Enrique has refined him into a difference-maker. Against Liverpool in the Champions League, it was Dembele who dragged PSG to extra time and then stepped up again in the penalty shootout.

Legacy in Mind, Glory Within Reach

Now, Dembele faces the biggest moment of his club career—a Champions League final against Inter Milan. A title would complete a personal and professional transformation. And perhaps more poignantly, it would echo the triumph of his childhood hero two decades ago.

He was just eight when Gerrard lifted the European Cup on that mythical night in Istanbul. Two decades later, Dembele can etch his name into PSG history and France’s football folklore by doing the same in 2025.