If your main soccer nutrition is in the Premier League every week, there is no doubt that you are already beating Mohamed Sarah as your shoe-in of Baron de Or.
It’s a safe prediction, but there’s another horrible winger who especially got off to a fierce start in 2025, running for Sarah’s money at Osmane Dembele.
The Paris Saint-Germain forward rivaled Lionel Messi’s record with 17 goals in the first two months of last week’s calendar year, surpassing Cristiano Ronaldo’s highest record (16) in the process.
Sarah and Dembele will be face-to-face this week in the 16-year-old Champions League. A match that can have a major impact on the entry for the biggest player awards of 2025. Sky Sports We will evaluate their chances…
Ousmane Dembele
This is undoubtedly the best season ever for Dembele at age 27, and there are a few reasons why it all comes together at the right time: new tactical roles, more responsibility, better management, Dembele’s maturity.
He was always extremely talented, but his game was to balance all his assets with dribbling, assists and goals – into a consistent finished product. Luis Enrique and his staff helped him do this, and he responded by being more selfish, taking responsibility for the spaces open by Killian Mbappe.
Oousmane Dembele has scored 26 goals in all competitions this season.
The result is 18 goals in 22 League 1 appearances, with five assists and six more goals and assists in the Champions League, with a total of 26 goals and six assists in all competitions that are well beyond his previous best season, registering seven assists for Barcelona.
In France, during the UEFA Nations League campaign, Dembele played in four of six matches against Belgium. He is expected to feature prominently in the quarterfinals against Croatia later this month, and could help his bid if he leads France to an international league title.
Dembele is hoping for a Second Nations League title this summer
PSG staff is understood to be thought of as Dembele navigating PSG beyond Liverpool and moving to the very latter stage of the Champions League on behalf of Sarah.
Former French and Bordeaux midfielder Rio Mabuba recently said footmercato In France, if it was up to him, he would already choose Dembele over Sarah. He said: “Today I’m choosing Osmane Dembele. Why? Because he’s young because he’s leveling up, but from a coach’s perspective, he’s also decisive at even key moments.
His former manager of Stade Rennais also recently commented. “He has fully taken on the leadership of Paris’ offensive play. I am not surprised, I am proud of him and I am extremely happy for him.
Mohamed Sarah
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Sky Sports Panel discusses whether Mohamed Sara has the best individual season in Premier League history
Sara is definitely a clear front runner, perhaps a Barondoor odds-on favorite, bringing back his best form for another stunning campaign to date, leaning Liverpool for the Premier League title in Arne Slot’s first season.
Perhaps the comprehensive statistics that best convey his impact is the percentage of points that only his goals and support provided. 33 years old from Reds ’67. That’s only half of 49.3%, surpassing other Premier League players.
At 32, it’s amazing to unlock 25 goals and 17 assists in the league. Especially given the number of seasons he runs at a very high level, the uncertainty of his expiry contract depends on him.
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Sky Sports Football Writer Nick Wright highlights the statistics behind Mohamed Sara’s amazing season
In the Champions League, he has half of the goals Dembele makes (3), but his efforts at the Carabao Cup mean that he currently has 30 goals and 22 assists in all competitions up to this season – ahead of Dembele.
At Villa Park last month, Sarah rivaled his own Lionel Messi record by scoring and supporting 10 different games in one season in five biggest leagues in Europe.
Slot recently confirmed that historically Ballon d’Or winners also need to win silverware. With both Liverpool and PSG steaming towards their respective leagues, the medals of Champions League winners could become clinchers.
“It’s not just the amount of awards you win, but most people who have won the league and the Champions League,” the Dutchman said. “But soccer is always like this — you need the team to win individual awards. But MO understands that. It’s mainly about the attackers, but the final winner was the midfielder.
The fact that 13 of the final 18 Ballon d’Or winners won the European elite competition gives even more weight to that prediction.
