{"id":247141,"date":"2025-09-22T20:29:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T20:29:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/247141\/"},"modified":"2025-09-22T20:29:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T20:29:13","slug":"he-saw-tottenham-and-man-united-moves-collapse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/247141\/","title":{"rendered":"He saw Tottenham and Man United moves collapse"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>The biggest names in football will gather in Paris tonight for the glitzy Ballon d\u2019Or ceremony.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Widely considered to be one of the most prestigious trophies in the whole of sport, the annual award will be handed out to the best player in the world to recognise their heroics.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/tbrfootball.com\/topic\/lionel-messi\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lionel Messi <\/a>has scooped up the gong eight times, making him the record holder, with <a href=\"https:\/\/tbrfootball.com\/topic\/cristiano-ronaldo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cristiano Ronaldo<\/a> trailing behind him on five, but another winner will be crowned this time around.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btbf-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@BeyondTheBackFour?sub_confirmation=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">    <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"object-fit:unset\" src=\"https:\/\/tbrfootball.com\/custom\/themes\/grv-media\/img\/podcast\/btbf-title.svg\" alt=\"\"\/>  Click to subscribe to the podcast <img decoding=\"async\" style=\"object-fit:unset;height:30px;width:fit-content\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/tbrfootball.com\/custom\/themes\/grv-media\/img\/podcast\/youtube.svg\" alt=\"\"\/>  <\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/tbrfootball.com\/topic\/manchester-united\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Manchester United<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/tbrfootball.com\/topic\/tottenham-hotspur\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tottenham<\/a> are certain to be watching on through their fingers after a player they both targeted quickly emerged as one of the favourites to take the prize home.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, it would be a real shock if he didn\u2019t emerge victorious at the Theatre du Chatelet.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2236444274-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Ruben Amorim looks on during Manchester United's victory against Chelsea in the Premier League\" class=\"wp-image-988222\" \/>Photo by Jan Kruger\/Getty ImagesMan United and Tottenham wanted to sign Ousmane Dembele<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/tbrfootball.com\/topic\/ousmane-dembele\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ousmane Dembele<\/a> has been widely tipped to win the Ballon d\u2019Or this year after a stunning season for <a href=\"https:\/\/tbrfootball.com\/topic\/paris-saint-germain\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Paris Saint-Germain<\/a>, who signed him for just \u00a343million from <a href=\"https:\/\/tbrfootball.com\/topic\/barcelona\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Barcelona<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>However, his career could have looked very different had he moved to the <a href=\"https:\/\/tbrfootball.com\/topic\/english-premier-league\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Premier League<\/a> instead.<\/p>\n<p>According to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-8812215\/How-Man-Uniteds-deadline-day-Ousmane-Dembele-collapsed.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Daily Mail<\/a>, Man United mounted a deadline day swoop for Dembele back in 2020, having missed out on Jadon Sancho.<\/p>\n<p>Barcelona were initially open to selling the winger to free up cash to bring in Memphis Depay and compromised on a loan after United rejected a permanent deal. <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"666\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2232910698-1024x666.jpg\" alt=\"Ousmane Dembele celebrates after scoring a goal for PSG\" class=\"wp-image-988223\" \/>Photo by Xavier Laine\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>The move collapsed, though, when Dembele refused to sign a contract extension. He would have returned to the Nou Camp with just a year left on his deal, which would in turn have affected the La Liga club\u2019s ability to recoup a significant fee after investing \u00a3100m on him in 2017.<\/p>\n<p>Dembele instead remained in Spain and eventually joined PSG in 2022.<\/p>\n<p>Tottenham had also joined the race to sign the now 28-year-old in January 2022, but, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/FabrizioRomano\/status\/1488239252995465224\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Fabrizio Romano<\/a>, the deal was never a possibility during the final hours on deadline day. <\/p>\n<p>Will Ousmane Dembele win the Ballon d\u2019Or?<\/p>\n<p>Despite the usual speculation over alleged leaks on social media, the actual winner of the Ballon d\u2019Or will not be officially known until the ceremony takes place on Monday night.<\/p>\n<p>Bookmakers have tipped Dembele and <a href=\"https:\/\/tbrfootball.com\/topic\/lamine-yamal\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lamine Yamal<\/a> as the hot favourites, but the former is said to hold a slight advantage after his outrageously good campaign last time out.<\/p>\n<p>He provided 43 goal contributions in 44 Ligue 1 and <a href=\"https:\/\/tbrfootball.com\/topic\/champions-league\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Champions League<\/a> matches last season, helping PSG complete a domestic clean sweep under Luis Enrique.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"fr\" dir=\"ltr\">Ousmane Demb\u00e9l\u00e9, 2024\/25: \ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddf7\ud83c\udf1f<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udc55 59 games <br \/>\u26bd\ufe0f 37 goals  <br \/>\ud83c\udd70\ufe0f 14 assists  <br \/>\u2b50\ufe0f 51 G\/A in 59 games <br \/>\ud83c\udf96\ufe0f Ligue 1 Player of the Season<br \/>\ud83c\udf96\ufe0f Ligue 1 Golden Boot<br \/>\ud83c\udf96\ufe0f Champions League Player of the Season <br \/>\ud83c\udfc6 Champions League<br \/>\ud83c\udfc6 Ligue 1<br \/>\ud83c\udfc6 Coupe de France <br \/>\ud83c\udfc6 French Super Cup <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/o2kGntKo50\">pic.twitter.com\/o2kGntKo50<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 The Touchline | \ud835\udc13 (@TouchlineX) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TouchlineX\/status\/1970035839515205765?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">September 22, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>View Tweet<\/p>\n<p>Dembele was also crucial to their run to the Champions League final, where they thumped Inter Milan 5-0.<\/p>\n<p>Cruelly, many of PSG\u2019s players will be forced to miss the ceremony after their top-flight fixture against Marseille was postponed on Sunday due to severe weather in southern France.<\/p>\n<p>Currently out injured, Dembele will have to choose between attending the game or the Ballon d\u2019Or pomp.<\/p>\n<p>  <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The biggest names in football will gather in Paris tonight for the glitzy Ballon d\u2019Or ceremony. Widely considered&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":247142,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[131313,3782,39417,1722,221,62,11131,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-247141","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer","8":"tag-ballon-dor","9":"tag-manchester-united","10":"tag-ousmane-dembele","11":"tag-paris-saint-germain","12":"tag-soccer","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-tottenham-hotspur","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115249844695690140","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247141\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/247142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}