Désiré Doué: PSG's gifted talent making the step-up
One To Watch
After signing from Stade Rennais in the summer, Désiré Doué is making a long-awaited impact in Luis Enrique's side at an important juncture of the season.
The words Désiré and Doué in French roughly translate to the conjugated verbs of 'to be desired' and 'to be gifted', and it's pure coincidence that Désiré Doué is a gifted individual on the pitch, and has shown plenty of desire and determination to make his move to PSG a success in recent game weeks.
Doué has had to go through a transitional period at the club in the French capital, after joining from Stade Rennais late in the last Summer transfer window. The 22-year-old is finally now proving his worth after a positive week of action for PSG against Red Bull Salzburg in the Champions League, and Olympique Lyonnais in Ligue 1 McDonald's action on Sunday evening.
"I would not say it was my night but that it was mainly the team's night," Doué said following the win against Salzburg after being named man of the match. "We are continuing on a very good run of form. We managed to win the last Champions League game which was very important."
Stepping in the footsteps of idols
The current France U21 international was a substitute against Salzburg earlier this week, coming on to set up Nuno Mendes before scoring himself against the Austrians to make it 3-0. "I grew up with two idols: Neymar and Lionel Messi," Doué told Ligue1.com last June."I drew a lot of inspiration from them. They were two players who were at the top of their game when I was a teenager. They made me dream!"
Now Doué is playing for PSG, where 'Ney' and Messi linked up together in 2020. It was a Neymar-esque turn from Doué on Ainsley Maitland-Niles this weekend which unlocked the OL defence and set up the Frenchman to assist Ousmane Dembélé's opener on Sunday evening. He started the game against Lyon after impressing in the Champions League, and looks to be trying to stake a claim in Luis Enrique's side in time for the new year and some vital games in Ligue 1 and Europe.
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