Ben Siriki Dembélé (born 7 September 1996) is an Scottish-Ivorian 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 le ...

who plays as a winger and striker for

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

club

Auxerre Auxerre ( , ) is the capital of the Yonne department and the fourth-largest city in Burgundy. Auxerre's population today is about 35,000; the urban area (''aire d'attraction'') comprises roughly 113,000 inhabitants. Residents of Auxerre are r ...

, on loan from

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...

. 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 Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

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 in the future if ...

. He then moved to playing in their academy. Dembélé returned south of the border joining the

Nike Football Academy The Nike Football Academy was an English football academy funded and administered by Nike, Inc. The academy had a revolving squad of unsigned under-20 players and was run with the intention of helping them find a professional club. The academy was ...

in May 2016, he had a trial 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 system ...

clubs

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

and

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...

in September 2016. In May 2017, Dembélé moved to

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...

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

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee. On 31 January 2022, he joined

on a three-and-a-half year deal, for an undisclosed fee. Born in Ivory Coast, Dembélé is also eligible to represent England and Scotland at international level.

Club career

Dembélé was born in Ivory Coast. He relocated with his family to London in search of better footballing opportunities, before moving to

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

, Scotland in 2004. He attended

Lourdes Secondary School Lourdes Secondary School, established in 1956, is a school in the south-west of Glasgow which serves a large catchment area, including the communities of Cardonald, Craigton, Crookston, Drumoyne, Govan, Hillington, Ibrox, Kinning Park, Mosspa ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, and started his career with

where he spent three years in their

. He then moved to

Ayr United Ayr United Football Club are a football club in Ayr, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League. Formed in 1910 by the merger of Ayr Parkhouse and Ayr F.C., their nickname is ...

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

, 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 (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

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, ...

, Dembélé joined

EFL League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

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 large 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, Stevena ...

, 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 Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

, 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 Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

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. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...

. 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 Mose ...

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.

AFC Bournemouth

On 31 January 2022, Dembélé joined

side

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 resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

on 12 February 2022.

Loan to Auxerre

On 31 January 2023, Dembélé moved to

club

on loan until the end of the season.

Style of play

Dembélé is ambidextrous 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. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

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

Siriki has a younger brother, Karamoko, who plays for French club

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress * Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria * Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France ** Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Br ...

. Both are eligible to play for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

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

respectively.

Career statistics

Honours

AFC Bournemouth *

runner-up: 2021–22 Individual *

: October 2017

References

External links

Siriki Dembélé profile
at the Grimsby Town F.C. website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dembele, Siriki 1996 births People from Govan Footballers from Glasgow Footballers from Lambeth Ivorian emigrants to the United Kingdom Sportspeople of Ivorian descent Living people People educated at Lourdes Secondary School Ivorian footballers 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 English Football League players Ivorian expatriate footballers Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in France Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in France