Huge praise for a former teammate
Ousmane Dembele has showered praise on one of Manchester City's biggest names ahead of Wednesday evening's eagerly awaited Champions League meeting between the two sides, with the Paris Saint-Germain forward underlining his special standing.
PSG travel to Manchester tomorrow for the second round of the league phase, a tough night on which the French champions want to keep their European campaign rolling. City, meanwhile, are chasing an extended winning run.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Dembele turned to Gianluigi Donnarumma, now City's goalkeeper and a former PSG man: "My relationship with him is great, and we speak constantly. For me, he is the number one goalkeeper in the world."
He went on: "He is exceptional and a very good friend, an amazing goalkeeper capable of changing the course of any match."
Those words land before a special occasion for Donnarumma, who joined Manchester City on 1 September 2025 after four years in Paris. His relationship with the French club ended in difficult circumstances.
Dembele also looked ahead to the game itself: "It's a big game against a very good team with special players. It won't be easy, but we will prepare well in order to get the three points."
The forward does not see the fixture as decisive at this stage of the season, but he stressed his side's desire to win every match.
Nor are PSG out to send a message to their European rivals, he insisted. The season is long and more tough fixtures are coming in the weeks ahead.
Team-mate Desire Doue got the Dembele treatment too: "Doue is one of the most talented players in the world. We know his ability to score and dribble. He is an amazing player with a big career ahead of him, even though he has already scored in a Champions League final. He will have a wonderful future."
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I began my journalism career in 2012, working across several prominent media outlets, and officially joined the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate in 2015.
Throughout my career, I have combined field reporting, in-depth analysis, professional translation, and the creation of sports reports and series from a perspective that differs from the mainstream.
In 2017, a pivotal milestone came when I joined Kooora, the leading Arabic sports website, where I took on diverse responsibilities including supervising the translation and analysis sections, as well as managing editorial shifts. This experience provided me with extensive expertise in producing high-quality sports content.
I have loved football since childhood. I still remember the first match I ever watched—the 1994 World Cup final between Brazil and Italy. My parents woke me up at dawn to watch it, and I was just six years old at the time.
Since that night, my passion for the game has never faded. It has grown steadily and eventually became the center of my professional life.
Today, I specialize in professional translation and creative sports writing, including storytelling, journalistic scenarios, and unconventional analytical reports.
My favorite football memory is Egypt’s qualification for the 2018 World Cup after the dramatic late moments against Congo.
My all-time favorite lineup includes:
Goalkeeper: Manuel Neuer
Defense: Dani Alves – Sergio Ramos – Paolo Maldini – Marcelo
Midfield: Sergio Busquets – Andrés Iniesta – Luka Modrić
Attack: Lionel Messi – Ronaldo Nazário – Cristiano Ronaldo
I have published many creative pieces on Kooora. Some of my favorites include:
“A Painful Regret for Ferguson… Paolo Maldini Saves Guardiola in the Champions League Final!”
“Kooora Story: Ronaldo’s Juventus Clashes with Ramos’ Real Madrid… Choose Your Favorite Ending”
“A Journalistic Scenario… The Night Florentino Pérez Cried”
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