Paris Saint-Germain have evolved from the club that once boasted the most glamorous front line in football, and in Désiré Doué, they have a player who is almost certain to be a star of the future, as well as the present.
Anyone paying attention to French football in recent years will know the Paris Saint-Germain story by now.
As recently as two years ago, the club fielded arguably the most ‘Galáctico’ attacking trio in history in Kylian Mbappé, Neymar and Lionel Messi. However, following the departure of the latter two, PSG wanted to go in a different direction.
They have still bought some big names since, but the consensus was that PSG were veering away from marketability to sustainability, with a greater emphasis on nurturing young French talent who can grow into the future of the club.
With Mbappé also departing the Parc des Princes last summer for Real Madrid, many wondered how they would look to replace their star man. Ousmane Dembélé and Bradley Barcola were already there, but the anticipation was that PSG would push the boat out to fill the significant hole left by Mbappé.
You could argue they did when they splashed €50 million on Désiré Doué from Rennes. The teenager was the only attacking addition in the summer transfer window, and his price tag coupled with the fact PSG had to fight off competition from Bayern Munich to land him meant there was plenty of anticipation about his potential impact.
‘Doué’ is the French word for ‘gifted’, so it’s a moniker that must have been quite difficult to live up to, but the 19-year-old has so far done a pretty good job of doing so. It could end up as football’s finest example of nominative determinism since Wolfgang Wolf managed Wolfsburg.
Doué recorded four goals and four assists in 31 Ligue 1 appearances (17 starts) for Rennes last season, but also created 27 chances from open play. Of Rennes players to play at least 400 league minutes in 2023-24, only Lorenz Assignon (1.7) created more than Doué’s 1.5 open-play chances per 90 minutes.
He has improved on that already at PSG, having created the most open-play chances per 90 of anyone in Europe’s top five leagues this season (2.6 – minimum 750 minutes played).
It hasn’t all been easy going for Doué since his move to Paris, though. Luis Enrique wanted to ease the youngster into his team, which, despite the loss of Mbappé, remained stacked with attacking talent.
Doué made his first four appearances off the bench, providing an assist in his second outing, a 3-1 win away at Lille. His first start came in the 1-1 draw at Reims in late September where Luis Enrique initially played him as a false nine. He also started in the Champions League defeat at Arsenal in the league phase, where he struggled to have much impact, registering no shots and creating just one chance in 64 minutes.
Doué only started two more games before mid-December, and there had been reports that the player was becoming frustrated. But after coming off the bench to score his first goal for the club in a 3-0 Champions League win at Salzburg, he forced his way into the team. Since then, he has started 21 of PSG’s last 26 matches.
It’s particularly impressive that he’s been able to start so many games since the turn of the year. PSG added Khvicha Kvaratskhelia from Napoli in the January transfer window, but Doué has started 16 of the 20 games played since the Georgian’s arrival, coming off the bench in the other four.
Doué has an impressive 22 goal involvements this season at a rate of one every 105.8 minutes, evenly split into 11 goals and 11 assists. Only Dembélé (39) and Barcola (33) have contributed to more goals for PSG this season.
Like many of his teammates, Doué has particularly accelerated his output since the turn of the year, with 18 of his goal involvements (9 goals, 9 assists) coming in 23 games since 1 January. He has every reason to be happy with those numbers in his first campaign in Paris, even if his goal involvements map (below) does sort of look like a grumpy face.
He has shown his versatility despite his young age, having not played more than 38% of his minutes in any one position this season. In fact, Doué has played more minutes in central midfield than he has on the left, where he played just shy of 50% of his time the previous season at Rennes. Interestingly, he barely played on the right that campaign (10%) but has predominantly played on that side for the Parisians.
Seeing Doué in full flow, it’s not hard to see why Luis Enrique eventually had to make him a more regular part of things. He looks so natural on the ball, is comfortable on either foot, and is incredibly eager to progress the ball forward.
Doué’s ball-carrying data encapsulates this perfectly. Last season, while still only 18 and at Rennes, he led all Ligue 1 midfielders for progressive carries per 90 minutes (15.2, minimum 200 minutes). This term, among midfielders and forwards, only Dembélé (13.5) has averaged more than his 12.4 per 90 in Ligue 1.
Doué is also not opposed to a progressive pass, having recorded 75 in Ligue 1 this season. Of PSG midfielders and forwards, only Vitinha, Fabián Ruiz (both 94) and Dembélé (89) have more.
Dribbling is his main joy, though. Doué has averaged 6.6 dribble attempts per 90 in Ligue 1 this season and 2.9 dribbles completed, both the most of anyone to have played at least 750 minutes in the competition.
Using the same parameters, he also has the most ball carries (moving at least five metres with the ball) ending with a chance created per 90 (1.3), while only teammate Dembélé (2.2) and Jonathan Rowe at Marseille (1.8) average more shot-ending carries per 90 than Doué (1.6), so when he dribbles, something quite often comes from it.
When looking at PSG’s attacking sequence involvements in all competitions this season, Doué (8.3) only trails Dembélé (10.1) for involvements per 90 (minimum 360 minutes played), showing just how important he has already become to Luis Enrique’s side.
There are stylistic echoes of Neymar in his game. Doué has a habit of standing defenders up, slowing the play down before trying a skill to burst past them, or flicking the ball behind himself with his instep to find an overlapping teammate.
It may seem harsh on the Brazilian to say, but one of the key differences between Doué and Neymar is that the youngster also does his fair share of defensive work.
Of forwards in Ligue 1 to have played at least 750 minutes this season, only Marcus Coco of Nantes (2.6) has averaged more tackles per 90 than Doué (2.1), while only Antoine Joujou at Le Havre (5.6 per 90) and Lyon’s Ernest Nuamah (5.1) win back possession more often than him (5.0).
Considering Doué only really established himself at PSG in mid-December, he has achieved some notable moments. He stepped up to tuck away the winning penalty as PSG knocked favourites Liverpool out of the Champions League at Anfield in the last 16. That was followed by a senior France debut, where Doué scored in another shootout win over Croatia in the UEFA Nations League.
He didn’t get off to the best start with Les Bleus head coach Didier Deschamps when he turned up late on his first day of national team duty, but he was clearly forgiven by the time he replaced Barcola in the 66th minute at the Stade de France.
Doué seemed to return to club football with even more confidence, scoring two excellent goals – his first PSG brace – in a 6-1 thrashing of Saint-Étienne, before adding another in the Coupe de France semi-final win at Dunkerque. He capped that week off by scoring the only goal of the game as PSG beat Angers 1-0 to secure another Ligue 1 title on Saturday.
It was apt that Doué got on the end of a cross from Kvaratskhelia to score, further showing that he has not let the addition of the former Napoli winger in January disrupt his own progress, and he’s also finding ways to make the most of having such a haul of talented teammates.
He is also likely to play a big role over the two legs of PSG’s Champions League quarter-final against Aston Villa, with another chance to shine on the big stage and show the world what he is capable of.
The only shame about his time in Paris so far is that, as far as we know, the PSG fans haven’t yet serenaded Doué with a chant to the tune of Louie Louie by The Kingsmen. Surely, it’s only a matter of time.
The future is exciting for PSG and Doué, who is proving to be both ‘gifted’ by name and gifted by nature.
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Gifted by Name, Gifted by Nature: Why Désiré Doué Is More Than Just the ‘Next Neymar’ Opta Analyst.
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