Ousmane Dembele picked out Liverpool heroes Steven Gerrard and Sadio Mane as he chose a star-studded list of his six favourite players past or present.
The Barcelona winger also hailed Camp Nou legends Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta as his "idols" and rounded off his selections with two forwards, one of whom thrived for Manchester City and one of whom still plies his trade at the Etihad. Dembele, 25, played alongside Iniesta for one year following his £135million transfer from Borussia Dortmund in 2017, winning the double of La Liga and the Copa del Rey in his debut campaign.
He was teammates with Messi for a further three seasons and won two more major honours before the Argentine moved to Paris Saint-Germain. As a Barca player, it is no surprise Dembele included Messi and Iniesta in his list of the players he looked up to as a child or continues to admire today.
However, he also included a number of players who made their name in the Premier League, such as Gerrard, Riyad Mahrez, Mane and Leroy Sane. The latter duo cemented themselves as world-class wingers during their spells with Liverpool and City respectively, and they now play alongside each other for Bayern Munich.
"I used to really like Steven Gerrard. I loved Iniesta and Messi, they are my idols," Dembele told Catalan outlet Sport when asked to pick his favourite players, either from his youth or the present day. "Today, I like to watch Messi and Mahrez. I love Riyadh."
Are you surprised by any of Ousmane Dembele's selections? Have your say in the comments!
The France international concluded his list with mentions for Sane and his new Bayern teammate Mane, who has quickly taken to life in Bavaria by scoring five goals in his first seven matches. The Senegal star left Liverpool this summer after six trophy-laden years on Merseyside - during which he scored 120 goals in all competitions - to join the Bundesliga giants.
Dembele, meanwhile, has been plagued by injury issues since arriving at Barcelona in his mega-money transfer, while a contract dispute saw him in the spotlight last season. That being said, he has had a fine start to the new campaign after signing a new two-year deal, chipping in with one goal and two assists for the Blaugrana.
Barca are unbeaten from their opening four La Liga games and sit two points behind reigning champions Real Madrid, who have made a flawless start. The two El Clasico rivals will face off in October but will first focus their efforts on European commitments. Real Madrid commence their defence of the Champions League against Celtic on Tuesday night, while Barcelona host Viktoria Plzen the following evening.
