Few metamorphoses have been as spectacular in the Grand Theater of Football reinvention as the transformation of Ousmane Dembele.
Dembele went from an enigma to a ruthless finisher for Paris Saint-Germain-a butterfly effect that started when his wings were temporarily cut.
Once the poster boy for unfulfilled potential, the 27-year-old Frenchman emerged as the unexpected protagonist in PSG's Champions League run to the final, in which they meet on Saturday.
Dembele's scoring Renaissance has led to a mandatory new chapter in a career that was previously defined by a seductive genius of genius interrupted by frustrating inconsistency.
'The best thing I did was not playing in London [at Arsenal]”PSG coach Luis Enrique said a confession in February that reads like a tough-love parent who discusses a rebellious prodigy.
That short omission of the team at Emirates Stadium-a football time-out that could have breaking smaller spirits instead the catalyst for Dembele's metamorphosis of Mercurial winger to central striking power.
The statistics tell a story about almost alchemical transformation: 32 goals in 40 performances in all competitions, including 21 in Ligue 1, combined more than in his previous five seasons.
Dembele's figures are even more revealing.
Before his positional Epiphany, Dembele converted a modest 13.5% of his shots. After the reinvention, that figure doubled to 26.7%.
“Playing as a song brings me much closer to the goal,” Dembele explained with characteristic understatement. “Once I get past a player, I am in front of the goal and I have the focus to end.”
This is Dembele 2.0, a football player reborn through tactical alchemy. His versatility and pace make him one of the most formidable attackers in the game.
Luis enrique's tactical herkalibration-it turning from Dembele centrally into a highly, possessed framework, PSG has transformed from a collection of expensive soloists into a symphonic unit.
The approach has proved particularly disruptive in the Champions League, where opponents are suffocated by PSG's ruthless pressure before they are pierced by Dembele's new precision.
The once frustrating wing player now leads the line for a club that wants to claim desperate to claim the holy grail of European football in their second attempt to win the final.
Dembele is directly involved in 12 Champions League goals this season (eight goals, four assists); The most ever by a PSG player in one campaign, while only Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored more in 2013-14 (10).
If PSG's Champions League -dreams materialize, then the Ballon d'Or interview will inevitably include the man whose Renaissance started with the humility of a bench and flourished in the confidence of a striker who finds it just now with a matter of inevitability.