Who is Desire Doue – the star in PSG’s Champions League win? Neymar fan, matching Ronaldo feats and strictly not on Twitter

That lopsided margin is not particularly new for Desire Doué (pronounced Dee-zee-ray Doo-ey). Doué’s debut for the reigning French champions when he came in as substitute on August 23, 2024, six days after joining, was in a 6–0 win over Montpellier. The shirt No 14 back then had also scored his first Champions League goal in a 3–0 away win over RB Salzburz in December. There was also the 7-0 win in a Champions League play off game against fellow Ligue 1 outfit Stade Brestois, when he scored a goal and provided an assist.

Origins with many brothers playing

Doué was born to an Ivorian father and French mother at Angers, near confluence of Maine and Loire rivers in western France, and holds both French and Ivorian nationalities. His brother Guéla Doué, plays right back for Ligue 1 team Strasbourg, and also for Ivory Coast, while Desire turns out for France. His cousins Yann Gboho and Marc-Olivier Doué are also known to be professional footballers.

The Neymar button

While Doué identifies all of Neymar, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as his footballing inspirations, he grew up watching a lot of Neymar. “They all had different personalities,” he told TNT recently, “But as a kid Neymar was always my favourite and I would try to recreate his moves. I try to play my football and be myself on the pitch and do whatever comes to my mind in each moment and phase of play.”

Comparisons are inevitable given his creativity, flair, dribbling prowess and eye for goal.

Luis Enrique has gotten 18 different men to score 82 goals I 29 games for PSG, with Dembele and Bradley Barcols as stars, but Doue told TNT Enrique worked fairly lot on him technically to help him slot right in – which was after the departure of Mbappe. He was quoted as saying he was impressed by his “technical ability, physicality and personality.”

Doue can be said to have been crucial in a shock rally against Liverpool in March in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 when he came as a substitute for Bradley Barcola and netted the decisive penalty at Anfield in the comeback after having lost the first leg 1-0. In April his solitary goal gave PSG the 13th Ligue 1 title, and it was his equalizer in the Champions League quarter final first leg against Aston Villa from outside the box, that brought PSG back after being a goal down as they won 3–1.

Matching Ronaldo record

According to Goal.com, Doue made history and matched Cristiano Ronaldo’s longstanding record when he pulled in a goal and an assist in the first half “that left Inter chasing shadows.” The assist came via a pass that set up Achraf Hakimi that opened the dam walls. Later, Doue cut inside from the right and his powerful drive from outside the box made it 2-0, before another past the 60th minute. It made him the youngest player in history to both score and assist in a final, as per goal.com.

Previously, only two teenagers had ever scored in a final in Europe: Patrick Kluivert for Ajax in 1995 and Carlos Alberto for Porto in 2004. However what drew the Ronaldo comparisons was scoring two goals during a Champions League final — a record Ronaldo set in 2014 when Real Madrid defeated Atlético Madrid in Lisbon.

Beginning the season largely on the bench, coming in for Frenchman Bradley Barcola, but ended with 15 goals and 15 assists across all competitions — figures that reflect his emergence as one of Europe’s brightest young talents, as per goal.com.

The Rennes early years

Doué, a 2006 born started out at the youth academy of Rennes at 5 in 2011 and was in their senior reserves in 2021, signing his first professional contract until 2024, and debuting in August 2022. His first professional goal came in a 3–1 win over Brest, becoming the first player born post 2005 to score in any of the major five European leagues. His first European goal – on 6 October, an 89th-minute winning goal for Rennes in a 2–1 UEFA Europa League victory over Dynamo Kyiv, which made him the youngest ever French scorer in European club competitions at 17 years, four months and four days.

Style – both feet brill

Luis Enrique has moulded him into a versatile option, but he started out an attacking midfielder, as he spanned and scoped out deeper in midfield, on either wing, or as a forward, depending on where he was assigned in the formation. Known for his agility, acceleration and both footed dribbling and shooting, and importantly passing, he can be deployed on either flanks. The Athletic, picked out the star-player’s super-strength as ball carrying, with his 2022–2023 season for progressive carries (3.4 per 90) putting him in top 2 percent in Europe, and the top one percent for successful dribbles (3.9). He’s extremely happening with flicks and tricks as per ESPN, and shares tackling workloads in defense, something he has in common with his 22-year-old brother.

Rennes manager Bruno Génésio was quoted as saying, “Doue reads the game very well. Technically, right foot and even left foot, he’s complete, with good control on both. Away from the pitch he’s a dream. Easy, calm, with a streak of leadership whilst still asking for advice. He’s both care-free and conscientious in his work. He’s already a pro in his head.”

Transfer frenzy, with Bayern heartbroken

PSG were always favourites to sign Doué after his preference to join the Parisian club which submitted a €60m offer for Doué, Rennes’ asking price. The Ligue 1 champions in trying to replace Kylian Mbappé, had compiled an impressive French armoury of Dembele, Bradley Barcola and Randal Kolo Muani.

Bayern Munich had fancied their chances submiting a bid of €55m plus bonuses, as per Transfermarket. But they were left eluded like English Premier League clubs, Tottenham, Arsenal and Manchester United.

Nuggets on the new star

Doué has an Instagram account that firmly proclaims “No Twitter.” His most popular meme has him walking backward with a shoe on head, and fans love to manifest ‘Ballon Doue’, a play in Ballon d’or.

While comparisons to Neymar are fairly common, Barca fans have fetched up quippy pirates, goading him to join Barcelona with “Come to Barca” refrains, adding he could make a killer combo with Lamine Yamal.