Moussa Sidi Yaya Dembélé (born 16 July 1987), known as Mousa Dembélé, is a Belgian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

central midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. Dembélé started his career at

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023 ...

team Germinal Beerschot before spells at

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

sides Willem II and AZ in the Netherlands. He won the league title and the

Johan Cruyff Shield The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national footbal ...

with the latter in 2009. Dembélé transferred to

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

side

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

in 2010 before joining

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

for a fee of £15 million in August 2012. He was ranked 91st in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''s list of the 100 best current footballers in 2012. Dembélé accumulated 82 caps for the Belgium national team from 2006 to 2018.

Early life

Dembélé was born in

Wilrijk Wilrijk (; former, original spelling: ''Wilrijck'') is a district of the municipality and city of Antwerp in the Belgian province of Antwerp. Wilrijk had been a separate municipality before January 1, 1983; the enlarged municipality of Antwerp wa ...

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

, Belgium. His father Yaya is

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

an, while his mother, Tilly Huygens, is Belgian of Flemish ethnicity. Dembélé is a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

. Dembélé uses the spelling "Mousa" for his first name (e.g. on his Twitter account), and so do his club, national team and most news articles about him. However, in a 2016 interview, he said that the proper spelling ought to be "Moussa". In a 2018 interview he further clarified that his first name was accidentally misspelled "Mousa" when he had to renew his passport one time and then just decided to keep on using it that way.

Club career

Early career

Dembélé played for K. Berchem Sport as a youth. He started his professional career for Germinal Beerschot, a team in the

. He made his debut on 24 April 2004 against

Charleroi Charleroi (, , ; ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It is the largest city in both Hainaut and Wallonia. The city is situated in the valley of the Sambre, in the south-west of Belgium, not ...

. In 2005, he signed for the youth section of Willem II, despite apparent interest from

giants

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or commonly Ajax, is a Dutch professional Association football, football Football team, club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. ...

Willem II

Dembélé spent the 2005–06 season in the

with Willem II. The team had a very poor season that year, but Dembélé nonetheless scored nine times. After the season, he attracted further interest from the bigger Eredivisie teams and was subsequently transferred to AZ in the summer of 2006.

AZ

In 2006–07, Dembélé was one of the most important players of

Louis van Gaal Aloysius Paulus Maria "Louis" van Gaal (; born 8 August 1951) is a Dutch former association football, football player and former manager who currently serves as an advisor for AFC Ajax, Ajax. At club level, he served as manager of AFC Ajax, Aj ...

's team. They were poised to win the championship but on the last day lost the title to PSV and only finished third after losing 3–2 to

Excelsior Excelsior may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature and poetry * "Excelsior" (Longfellow), an 1841 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow * "Excelsior", an 1877 picture book in verse by Bret Harte, published as an advertisement for the Sa ...

. AZ also lost the final of the KNVB Beker against

. Dembélé scored after two minutes played, but AZ lost 8–7 after a penalty shootout, with Dembélé scoring AZ's fifth penalty attempt. AZ further lost the play-off final for qualification to the Champions League, again to Ajax. Dembélé scored six times that season. The season of 2007–08 was a very disappointing season for AZ. They finished 12th, with Dembélé scoring four times for them. The 2008–09 season started disappointingly as well for Dembélé's team after two defeats, but then AZ started to win more games and eventually won the championship. Dembélé was out injured from October until December with a knee injury, but on his return, he was hailed as being one of the players of the season in the Eredivisie.

Fulham

Dembélé was said to be "edging closer" to join English

club

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

, but on 12 August 2010, Dembélé declined a move to Birmingham in favour of London club

. On 18 August 2010, Fulham announced that Dembélé had joined from AZ on a three-year deal for a fee of £5 million. Dembélé made an excellent start to his career at Fulham. He made his début on 22 August 2010, coming on as a substitute against

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

. He capped his first start for the club with a goal, scoring the second of six goals against Port Vale in the League Cup on 25 August. The same week, Dembélé made his first league start against

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

in which he provided two assists. The first of the two was a cross to Bobby Zamora following a good run in the box, while the second gave Fulham a draw and a point; he dodged past a couple of Blackpool players before playing a good ball for an on-rushing Dickson Etuhu to make the score (and final result) 2–2. Dembélé scored two league goals against

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

on 11 September in a 2–1 win, his first league goals for Fulham. He then scored a great solo goal against

, running from the halfway line before powerfully placing his shot beyond goalkeeper

Heurelho Gomes Heurelho da Silva Gomes (born 15 February 1981) is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. He played for Premier League clubs Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur and Watfor ...

. This was voted the Fulham "Goal of the Season" by the Fulham fans. It took until 9 May in Fulham's home game against

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

for Dembélé to score his third Premier League goal, but the Cottagers were soundly beaten 5–2. Under manager

Martin Jol Maarten Cornelis "Martin" Jol (born 16 January 1956) is a Dutch football manager and former midfielder. He played over 400 games during his career which included spells in the Netherlands, Germany and England, as well as earning three caps wi ...

, Dembélé played in a more creative position in central midfield, either next to club captain Danny Murphy or new signing

Mahamadou Diarra Mahamadou Diarra (born 18 May 1981) is a Malian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He served as captain for the Mali national team. Club career OFI Crete Diarra started his professional career at Greek club ...

. After some very good performances, Martin Jol confirmed the club had opened contract talks with Dembélé in order to fend off interest from other clubs. Dembélé scored two goals in 2011–12 in his new more central role, the first coming as an 86th-minute goal against

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

to seal Fulham's 0–2 win at the

DW Stadium The Brick Community Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Robin Park in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. It is used by Wigan Warriors rugby league club and Wigan Athletic F.C., Wigan Athletic association football, football club. The stadium is ...

in late October. His second came right at the business end of the season against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

; his goal was the winner to make the result 2–1, scoring only 30 seconds after Phil Bardsley had equalized to make it 1–1 at

Craven Cottage Craven Cottage is a football stadium in Fulham, West London, England, which has been the home of Fulham F.C. since 1896.According to the club'official website The ground's capacity is 29,589; the record attendance is 49,335, for a game agains ...

Tottenham Hotspur

Dembélé transferred to

on 29 August 2012 after Spurs triggered a £15 million release clause in his Fulham contract. He scored on his debut against

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

on 1 September in a 1–1 home draw. On 21 February 2013, he scored a 90th-minute goal to help Spurs put

Olympique Lyonnais Olympique Lyonnais (), commonly referred to as simply Lyon () or OL, is a French professional association football, football club based in Lyon, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. With origins dating back to 1899, they were founded in 1950 and p ...

out of the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

and qualify for the last 16 of the competition. On 6 May 2016, Dembélé, despite not having been booked by the referee, was banned for six games by the

Football Association A football association, also known as a football federation, soccer federation, or soccer association, is a governing body for association football. Many of them are members of the sport's regional bodies such as UEFA and CONMEBOL and the world gov ...

for an

eye gouge __NOTOC__ Eye-gouging is the act of pressing or tearing the eye using the fingers or instruments. Eye-gouging involves a very high risk of eye injury, such as eye loss or blindness. Eye-gouging as a fighting style was once Gouging (fighting st ...

on Chelsea's

Diego Costa Diego da Silva Costa (, ; born 7 October 1988) is a professional Association football, footballer who most recently played as a Striker (association football), striker for Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Grêmio FBPA, Grêmio. Costa be ...

. The FA stated that "the standard punishment of three matches which would otherwise apply to this offence was clearly insufficient." Dembélé suffered from a recurring injury to his foot that caused him to miss a number of games in the 2016–17 season. Tottenham's manager Mauricio Pochettino nevertheless described Dembélé as a "genius" in April 2017, and among the best he had worked with, including

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona Franco (30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional association football, football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two ...

and

Ronaldinho Ronaldo de Assis Moreira (born 21 March 1980), commonly known as Ronaldinho Gaúcho () or simply Ronaldinho, is a Brazilian former professional Association football, footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or left winger. Widely reg ...

. Pochettino related that he had said to him: "If we had taken you at 18 or 19 years old, you would have become one of the best players in the world." He underwent surgery on his ankle in May 2017 but thought that he would never be 100% fit again. In the 2017–18 season, he again injured his ankle in the

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

tie against

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

in September. However, he gained plaudits for his performances later in the season as a midfielder. In early November in the 2018–19 season in the match against

, he suffered an ankle ligament injury that would see him out of the squad for the rest of the year. This would be his last game for Tottenham as he was transferred in January after six and a half years at the club. In total, he made 250 appearances with 10 goals scored for the club.

Guangzhou R&F/Guangzhou City

In the January 2019 transfer window Tottenham agreed a deal to sell Dembélé to

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Super League (), commonly known as the Chinese Super League or the CSL (), also known as the China Resources Beverage Chinese Football Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Ch ...

club

Beijing Guoan Beijing Guoan Football Club (), known in AFC competitions as Beijing FC, is a Chinese professional football club based in Beijing, that competes in . Beijing Guoan plays its home matches at the Workers' Stadium, located within Chaoyang Distr ...

, but there were complications with the deal. Instead Dembélé was set to move to Guangzhou R&F, also of the Chinese Super League for a reported fee of £11 million. Dembélé joined Guangzhou R&F on 17 January 2019. On 8 February 2022, Dembélé rejected a contract extension from Guangzhou to spend more time with his family and he retired at the end of the 2022 season.

International career

Dembélé made his first international appearance on 20 May 2006 against

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

, coming on as a substitute for Luigi Pieroni. He scored his first international goal in October 2006 against

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

. Dembélé participated in the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

, where he put on a remarkable show, being instrumental in Belgium's 3–2 win to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in the quarter-finals, scoring two goals, including the defining goal of the match. Belgium then progressed, losing to

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

in the semi-finals and Brazil in the third place play-offs. Dembélé played in all six of Belgium's games at the Olympics. On 13 May 2014, Dembélé was named in Belgium's squad for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

. He played 65 minutes in midfield before being substituted with Marouane Fellaini in the team's first game of the tournament, a 2–1 win against

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte is the List of largest cities in Brazil, sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population of around 2.3 million, and the third largest metropolitan area, containing a population of 6 million. It is the List of cities in Sout ...

. Dembélé announced his retirement from international football on 7 March 2019, after 82 caps for Belgium.

Style of play

Having begun as a winger and played in that role until 2011, Dembélé primarily played as a

, but also operated as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. He has been described as a footballer who is "big, powerful, technically gifted" and who has excellent "dribbling and passing abilities." His manager at Fulham,

, said "Dembélé is probably the best player on the ball I've ever seen." Former midfielder Jermaine Jenas, a teammate of Dembélé's at Tottenham, praised his "passing ability", remarking that the Belgian is "very good technically", while also comparing him to a

vacuum cleaner A vacuum cleaner, also known simply as a vacuum, is a device that uses suction, and often agitation, in order to remove dirt and other debris from carpets, hard floors, and other surfaces. The dirt is collected into a dust bag or a plastic bin. ...

insofar as he "sucks in all the pressure and then releases the ball at the perfect time. If you try to get tight to him, he is strong enough to hold you off and has the ability to look at you and go past you in the blink of an eye. If you drop off him, he is happy too. He can sit deep in front of the back four and dictate the tempo from there". Dembélé has stated Dutch forward

Patrick Kluivert Patrick Stephan Kluivert (; born 1 July 1976) is a Dutch football coach and former player who is currently the head coach of the Indonesia national team. As a player, he played as a striker for Ajax, Barcelona and the Netherlands national te ...

was a childhood hero of his and that his style of play was compared to Kluivert's.

Career statistics

Club

International

''Scores and results list Belgium's goal tally first''

Honours

AZ *

: 2008–09 *

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Tottenham Hotspur *

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

runner-up: 2014–15 Belgium *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

third place:

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dembele, Mousa 1987 births Living people People from Wilrijk Footballers from Antwerp Belgian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders K. Berchem Sport players Beerschot A.C. players Willem II Tilburg players AZ Alkmaar players Fulham F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Guangzhou City F.C. players Belgian Pro League players Eredivisie players Premier League players Chinese Super League players Belgium men's youth international footballers Belgium men's international footballers 2014 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2016 players 2018 FIFA World Cup players Olympic footballers for Belgium Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Belgian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in China Belgian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Belgian expatriate sportspeople in England Belgian expatriate sportspeople in China Belgian Muslims Black Belgian sportspeople Belgian people of Malian descent 21st-century Belgian sportsmen