Ben Siriki Dembélé (born 7 September 1996) is a 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 plays as a

left winger 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. ...

or striker for club

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

. Dembélé is known for his speed, taking on players with his dribbling ability, and holding the ball bringing others into play. At the age of 12, Dembélé started his career with

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show en ...

. He then moved to playing in their academy. Dembélé returned south of the border joining the Nike Football Academy in May 2016; he had trials with

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

clubs

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 ...

and

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

in September 2016. In May 2017, Dembélé moved to

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

signing his first professional contract. On 22 June 2018, he joined

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...

on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee. He joined

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth ( ) is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. ...

in January 2022 on a three-and-a-half-year deal and spent the second half of the 2022–23 season on loan to French

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

club

Auxerre Auxerre ( , , Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Auchoirre'') is the capital (Prefectures in France, prefecture) of the Yonne Departments of France, department and the fourth-largest city in the Burgundy historical region southeast of Par ...

before returning to the Championship with

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 ...

in July 2023. A year later, after Birmingham's relegation, he joined

. Dembélé was born in Ivory Coast, and is also eligible to represent England and Scotland at international level.

Club career

Early career

Dembélé was born in

Bouaflé Bouaflé is a city in central Ivory Coast. It is a sub-prefecture of and the seat of Bouaflé Department. It is also the seat of Marahoué Region in Sassandra-Marahoué District Sassandra-Marahoué District (, ) is one of fourteen administrati ...

, Ivory Coast. He relocated with his family to London before moving to

Govan Govan ( ; Cumbric: ''Gwovan''; Scots language, Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of southwest Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the sout ...

, Scotland, in 2004. He attended Lourdes Secondary School in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, and started his career with

where he spent three years in their

. He then moved to Ayr United in their U20s academy team in 2015. Several amateur players including Dembélé attended the 'Nike Most Wanted' 2016 trials, where he won a place at the Nike Football Academy; he was the only Scottish player selected for the St George's Park outfit, developing his skills in front of elite coaches and mentors. While at the academy, he had trials with

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

clubs

in August and

in September 2016 and was due to sign for them, however, due to suffering an injury he was out for four months and went back to the Nike Academy in January 2017.

Grimsby Town

After training and featuring in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Barnsley at

Blundell Park Blundell Park is a football ground in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England and home to Grimsby Town Football Club. The stadium was built in 1899, but only one of the original stands remains. The current capacity of the ground is 9,05 ...

, Dembélé joined

EFL League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English ...

side

on 25 May 2017 on a one-year contract, the club having the option to retain him for a second year. He did have the opportunity to trial with fellow League Two club

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevenage w ...

, Dembélé said: "I still had a few clubs to go before making my decision, but once I found out I was joining this club to sign my very first professional contract it felt amazing." He made his full professional debut with Grimsby on 5 August 2017, in their 3–1 victory at Chesterfield, where he ran at pace through the midfield beating three men and placed a through ball to Sam Jones, which put Grimsby into a 2–0 lead. Dembélé scored his first goal for Grimsby in the 2–1 win at Port Vale on 7 October 2017, a through ball from Luke Summerfield, which Dembélé latched onto and rounded the keeper to win the game. Ten days later, he scored a brace in a 3–2 victory at

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1887, ...

. Dembélé was awarded

EFL Young Player of the Month The EFL Young Player of the Month is an award for young players in all three divisions of the English Football League. To be eligible players must be under-21 or turn 21 during the current season. It was first awarded in December 2009. Victor Mos ...

for October 2017. In June 2018, Dembélé submitted a transfer request.

Peterborough United

Dembélé joined

on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee on 22 June 2018. Despite handing in a transfer request in January 2021 stating personal reasons and a desire to play at a higher level, he was part of the team that won promotion to the

from

EFL League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

in the 2020/21 season.

AFC Bournemouth

On 31 January 2022, Dembélé joined

club

on a three-and-a-half-year contract, for an undisclosed fee. Commenting on the move amidst interest from other clubs, Dembélé stated that Bournemouth was his top choice because of the higher chance of promotion and the club's style of play. He scored his first goal for the club in his second appearance; a last minute winner 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 ...

on 12 February 2022.

Loan to Auxerre

On 31 January 2023, Dembélé moved to

club

on loan until the end of the season.

Birmingham City

Dembélé signed for Championship club

on 14 July 2023; the fee was undisclosed.

Oxford United

Dembélé joined

of the Championship on 29 August 2024 on a long-term contract. The fee was undisclosed but it was widely reported that Oxford broke their transfer record to sign him, meaning the fee would have surpassed the £650,000 the club paid for Marvin Johnson in 2016, with Birmingham thought to have valued the player at between £1 million and £1.5 million.

Style of play

Dembélé is ambipedal although mainly right footed; he primarily plays on the

left wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social hierarchies. Left-wing politic ...

in 4–3–3 and 4–2–3–1 formations. He prefers to play as a striker in a 4–4–2 formation. Dembélé is known for his speed, taking on players with his dribbling skills and holding the ball bringing others into play.

Personal life

Dembélé has a younger brother, Karamoko, who is also a professional footballer and plays for Queens Park Rangers. Both are eligible to play for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

. 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 ...

, and observes

Ramadan Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (''Fasting in Islam, sawm''), communal prayer (salah), reflection, and community. It is also the month in which the Quran is believed ...

while continuing his football career.

Career statistics

Honours

AFC Bournemouth *

runner-up: 2021–22 Individual *

: October 2017

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dembele, Siriki 1996 births Living people People from Govan Footballers from Glasgow Footballers from the London Borough of Lambeth People from Lambeth Ivorian men's footballers Men's association football wingers Dundee United F.C. players Ayr United F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players AJ Auxerre players Birmingham City F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players English Football League players Premier League players Ligue 1 players People educated at Lourdes Secondary School Ivorian Muslims Ivorian emigrants to the United Kingdom Sportspeople of Ivorian descent Ivorian expatriate men's footballers Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in France Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in France 21st-century Ivorian sportsmen