Mohamed Salah Drops in Ballon D’or Race as Lamine Yamal, Ousmane Dembélé Rise | OneFootball

Ousmane Dembélé is playing the best football of his career at Paris Saint-Germain. With Kylian Mbappé now gone, the French winger has embraced a bigger role, often leading the attack and shining in key UEFA Champions League moments that have boosted his Ballon d’Or credentials.

This season, the 27-year-old has tallied 33 goals and 13 assists in 46 matches across all competitions. Many of those goals have come at crucial times in Europe.

Dembélé found the net against Manchester City and scored a hat trick against VfB Stuttgart to help PSG reach the knockout stage. He added more in the knockouts, scoring against Stade Brestois, Liverpool, and Arsenal, and notching two assists over two legs against Aston Villa.

What’s the latest on the Ballon d’Or race?

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Le Parisien journalist Dominique Sévérac shared the latest on how he feels the Ballon d’Or race is currently going. Moreover, he noted who the two contenders are for the honor, and without mentioning, he wrote off Mohamed Salah.

“[Dembélé is] one step away from the Ballon d’Or,” Sévérac wrote (h/t Le10Sport). “If he scores in the final and Paris wins, it’s settled. Otherwise, it will probably be Lamine Yamal. Trophies aren’t the only or the main criterion.”