Paris Saint-Germain's treble-winning 2024/25 campaign was made possible by Luis Enrique's thrilling and finely honed collective.
From the defence expertly marshalled by captain Marquinhos in front of Gianluigi Donnarumma, to the beautifully balanced midfield combination of Vitinha, Joao Neves and Fabian Ruiz, and the quicksilver forward play of Desire Doue, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Bradley Barcola.
As such, it makes it hard to pick a standout candidate from Europe's dominant team for the Ballon d'Or. Nevertheless, if anyone stands apart, it's PSG's top scorer from last season.
Ousmane Dembele produced the campaign of his career, the sort of season he fleetingly promised at Barcelona, only to be waylaid by form and fitness problems.
"If his name was Leo Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, there would be no argument," PSG sporting director Luis Campos told RMC Sport. "If he doesn't win the Ballon d'Or it's because the people who voted don't have the competence to vote for the Ballon d'Or because his stats and everything he's won are very strong.
"In my opinion, the one who clearly deserves the Ballon d'Or is Dembele. For me, there's no discussion."
Few are as strident as Campos over the candidacy of this year's frontrunners, which might explain an unusual news story to have emerged in the build-up to the September 22 ceremony concerning a marketing email and a very confused journalist.
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Ousmane Dembele Ballon d'Or campaign, explained
On September 12, Australian football writer Neal Gardner posted on X to detail an email he received from a PR agency entitled "Confidential Collaboration Opportunity".
The mail invited Gardner to take part in a "personal collaboration" where he would act, in secret, as a paid social media influencer amplifying Dembele's claims to the Ballon d'Or.
"We are exploring a one-month campaign designed to spark dialogue and strengthen the narrative around Ousmane Dembele's candidacy for the Ballon d'Or," the email read, according to a screenshot posted by Gardner.
"Specifically, we would like to propose three carefully crafted tweets per week over the course of a month that highlight his performances, impact and overall case for his recognition. Given your credibility and reach within the football community, your involvement would add meaningful weight to this conversation. At this stage, we'd like to request your quotations for this engagement."
The email requested "the utmost confidentiality" and "discretion", because this was "essential" to the campaign's success. This made the subsequent virality of the post particularly awkward for Dembele's camp, who offered a firm denial to The Athletic when asked whether they were behind the campaign.
Ok, here goes…
— Neal 🇦🇺 (@NealGardner_) September 12, 2025
I was recently approached by a PR agency to run a PAID campaign in favour of Dembele’s Ballon d’Or run.
I don’t know who’s funding this, but I think it’s absolutely ridiculous and I had to raise awareness. https://t.co/fRwSzCBZuf pic.twitter.com/JaOsUNj0KP
India-based marketing company Bangrr International sent the mail, which featured the name of its founder Ali Husain. However, Husain told The Athletic that the unsolicited email was sent by an 18-year-old intern without the knowledge of her bosses.
"The intern saw this as a learning opportunity to understand a different segment of the digital landscape … [and] sent a speculative message to learn about standard industry rates," he said in a statement. "This was a singular initiative driven by educational curiosity, not a directive from our agency or a commissioned campaign for any third party."
Husain added: "We sincerely apologise to Mr. Gardner for any misunderstanding or inconvenience this personal initiative has caused. We also extend our apologies to Ousmane Dembele and his representatives for any unintended involvement in this matter. It was never our intention — and certainly not the intern's — to create a false narrative or imply any affiliation."
Ultimately, the whole episode will not have any positive or negative effect upon Dembele's Ballon d'Or prospects as voting had already closed by the time Bangrr contacted Gardner.
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Should Ousmane Dembele win the Ballon d'Or?
If Dembele stands on the top step of the podium, it's hoped this strange episode won't be part of the conversation as he would be a very worthy winner for his deeds on the field.
He scored 33 goals in 37 starts across all competitions in 2024/25, also contributing 13 assists. This gave Dembele 46 goal involvements in 49 appearances overall, averaging 1.25 goals+assists per 90 minutes.
According to FBref, over the past year, Dembele is in the 99th percentile among Europe's top five leagues for shots, assists, expected assisted goals and shot-creating actions, and the 97th percentile for non-penalty goals and non-penalty xG.
The fact he also won the treble of Ligue 1, Coupe de France and Champions League trophies means he has plenty in his favour when it comes to the top candidates.
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Has a French player ever won the Ballon d'Or?
If he is successful, Dembele would be the sixth Frenchman to win the Ballon d'Or, following in the footsteps of 2022 winner Karim Benzema. No country has produced more than five winners to date.
Zinedine Zidane lifted the trophy in 1998 when he starred for Juventus, following in the footsteps of Michel Platini, who won three in a row while with the Turin giants between 1983 and 1985.
France's other winners were Raymond Kopa in 1958 and Jean-Pierre Papin in 1991. A Dembele success would be France's eighth overall and pull the country level with Argentina at the top of the standings. All eight of Argentina's Ballons d'Or have been won by Lionel Messi.
Dembele would be the first Paris Saint-Germain player to win the award.
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