“Iam Désiré Doué. Kylian is Kylian,” says theParis Saint-Germainforward, shirking the Mbappé comparisons. However, there is something reminiscent of his compatriot: the explosiveness, the agility, the unbridled self-confidence. Those traits have also earned Doué comparisons with his idol, Neymar, the most expensive jewel ofLes Parisiens’bling-bling era. But Doué isn’t some pastiche of PSG past; he embodies a different ethos entirely.
“Everyone is inspired by a player. For me, it isNeymar,” says Doué. The Brazilian’s panache has certainly been adopted by the Frenchman, as have his celebrations. But for Julien Stéphan, who managed him at Rennes, there is a uniqueness to Doué. “He is already a different player in terms of his personality,” Stéphan says. “Everything is oriented towards performance and reaching the top level. That is the first thing that left a mark on me. What is remarkable about him is his personality and the maturity for his age, and to what extent everything is already aligned in his daily life and his way of working.”
That has not been lost on Ousmane Dembélé either. “I already knew him from Rennes. He is a young player bursting with talent. I think he will go far. He is very mature for his age. What has impressed me the most? His professionalism. At his age, he is really, really professional,” said the former Barcelona forward.
Neymar was at times derided during his time at PSG for his lifestyle choices and lavish parties. There aren’t too many late nights for Doué. “He is a player who arrives early in the morning, who leaves late after training. He is someone who accords a lot of importance to sleep, to afternoon naps, to sleeping well in the evening. Last March, we organised a team dinner with all of the players and staff at a restaurant in the evening to watch a European game. His parents and brother came to collect him at 10.30pm because it was time for him to go and recover. It represents quite well his professionalism and how serious he is,” says Stéphan.
That seriousness is a family trait. Doué’s father was heavily involved in developing not only Désiré but also his brother Guéla, who now represents Strasbourg and Ivory Coast; and his cousin, Yann Gboho, also came through the Rennes academy and now plays for Toulouse.
That “seriousness” and drive were evident from an early age, as was his precocious technical ability. “Désiré had a great career ahead of him from a young age,” begins Sylvain Létang, who first worked with Doué in the Under-13 category at Rennes. “He was a creative player. He liked to make the difference individually, but he was also driven by the collective.”
However, like any youth player, there was a need for refinement. “He was a kid with talent but not with the athletic development,” Letang says, describing the PSG forward as a “late bloomer” physically. “Having seen him not long ago, he is now a real athlete. He is someone who is very agile and very deft. That has been reinforced and developed in the professional world,” adds Létang.
Alan Berrou, a physical trainer in the France Under-21 setup, recently described Doué as “one of the most complete athletes” he had worked with. Philippe Bizeul, who worked with the player as an assistant while at Rennes, added that “genetics shone brightly on him”.
Doué, described as a “leader of his generation”, was always sold a bright future at Rennes, however, he wasn’t the only one on whom high hopes were hinged. Mathys Tel, Jeanuël Belocian and Jérémy Jacquet, the latter now breaking through with his formative club, were part of an all-conquering Rennes youth side.
“It was a standout generation on a personal level – a generation with a lot of quality but also one that wanted to work as a team and that is why they succeeded together,” says Létang, who highlights the guiding philosophy of affording youth players the chance to shine in the first-team as the reason why a club that produced the likes of Dembélé and Eduardo Camavinga has become renowned – not just in France but globally – for producing top-tier talent.
Like those aforementioned players, Doué was quickly gobbled up by a European giant. It was a slow start to life at PSG for the Frenchman, whose versatility saw him tested in a variety of different positions, but without the level of success that earned him the €50m summer move. With Bradley Barcola and Dembélé holding down the two wide positions in attack, starting opportunities were lacking and Doué’s rhythm suffered as a result.
However, his ability to play a host of positions, which initially caused headaches for Luis Enrique, has become an asset for PSG. “He is so complete that his versatility is a strength, and he has to keep it. I think that, eventually, he will play in the middle of the pitch,” says Stéphan, whose second stint at Rennes came to an end earlier this season and who often used Doué in a deeper role. “While he has this explosiveness and dynamism, I think he will play out wide. I think it will be later in his career that he will come inside.”
For now, Doué continues to be deployed on the wing. Dembélé’s repurposing as a No 9 gave Doué his chance. It took him until December to get his first goal this season, but he now has 13, as well as 12 assists. Nineteen of those goal contributions have come in 2025 alone. In terms of players born in 2005 or later, only Lamine Yamal has more goal contributions than the PSG forward this season. “He is already at a very, very high level, and he will continue to be there. That is clear,” says Stéphan.
Arsenal, who host the first leg of their Champions League semi-final on Tuesday night, will be the biggest test of his young career to date. It wasat the Emirates in Octoberthat Doué was at his lowest ebb. He looked out of his depth, a little lost. But football moves quickly and, as he returns to London, he is once again perceived as one of the best of his generation.
“He has no limits, it is the mark of champions,” says Stéphan. “You’d have to be divine to determine what level he will reach. Will he be a Ballon d’Or candidate? Because that is maybe the question. It is very possible. In any case, he has all the elements to be one, one day.”
Doué, however, has always favoured collective titles and there is one tantalisingly within reach. Luis Enrique admits that theChampions Leaguehas been an “obsession” for PSG. As the embodiment of this new team, Doué will be just as desperate as anyone to get his hands on it.
This is an article byGet French Football News