🗣️ Desire Doue on Ousmane Dembélé saying Lionel Messi is the best player he has ever seen:
Honestly, I'm not surprised. He talks about Messi more than he talks about his own family." (laughs)
But seriously, he speaks about Messi all the time, and I understand why. Everyone has their own football idol and for me, it's Neymar.But that doesn't stop me from appreciating everything Messi has done for the game.
What Messi did on the pitch wasn't normal. He influenced football in a way very few players ever have, and anyone who watched him closely understands why so many professionals consider him the greatest they've ever seen.
For Ousmane, though, it's about more than football. He's spoken about how Messi stood by him during the difficult moments of his career at Barcelona, especially when he was dealing with injuries. Messi regularly checked on him, asked how his recovery was going, and genuinely cared about his well being. Those are the things people don't always see.
Ousmane even said he was surprised that someone who had achieved so much could be that humble and caring. He described Messi as one of the most genuine and special people he has ever met, and admitted that those gestures helped him a lot mentally during one of the toughest periods of his career.
So when Ousmane says Messi is the best player he has ever seen, I don't think it's only because of what Messi did on the pitch. It's also because of the person he came to know behind the scenes. Sometimes, the way someone treats you away from football leaves an even bigger impression than what they achieve on it.