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Ousmane Dembele and Leicester City have taken very different paths since the Frenchman turned down the Foxes in 2016.
Dembele was crowned the winner of the 2025 edition of the Ballon d’Or, beating the likes of Mohamed Salah and Raphinha to the accolade.
As for the Foxes, they have gone from the greatest story in football to now playing in the Championship for the second time in three years.
While Leicester are not going to be in the market for a player of Dembele’s quality anytime soon, they did once try to sign the Frenchman in 2016.
Ousmane Dembele rejected Leicester City in 2016
After defying odds of 5000/1 to become Premier League champions, the Foxes wanted to strengthen the squad ready for balancing the demands of top flight football with the Champions League.
Claudio Ranieri had identified Dembele after his stellar season with Rennes in Ligue 1, but were unsuccessful in their pursuit after he opted to join Borussia Dortmund.
“I had Claudio Ranieri on the phone. I was surprised to hear from him but I told him I will not be going to Leicester,” he told Ouest-France, when asked if the rumours were true.
In fairness, it was a move that proved to pay off for the winger as he then secured a £135m transfer to Barcelona 12 months later following a season that saw him register 30 goal contributions.
Ousmane Dembele found Ballon d’Or win ‘stressful’
While the winger hasn’t always shown his best form, his 2024/25 campaign with Treble winners Paris Saint-Germain was electric.
He scored 35 goals and grabbed 14 assists in that season but confessed that being handed the award by icon Ronaldinho was ‘stressful’.
“What I have just experienced is exceptional, I have no words for it, what happened with PSG,” he said.
“”I feel a bit of stress, it’s not easy to win this trophy, and to have it presented to me by Ronaldinho, a legend of football, is exceptional.”