Dembélé Declares Himself Fit For Arsenal Final And Plays Down Ballon d’Or Success

• Ousmane Dembélé says he is fully fit for PSG’s Champions League final against Arsenal
• The France forward insists winning trophies with PSG matters more than individual awards
• Achraf Hakimi has also been cleared to play after recovering from a thigh injury

Ousmane Dembélé has delivered a major boost to Paris Saint-Germain ahead of the Champions League final by declaring himself fully fit to face Arsenal on Saturday.

The French forward had emerged as an injury concern after limping out of PSG’s final Ligue 1 match of the season against Paris FC two weeks ago after only 27 minutes.

Scans later confirmed a calf injury, his second calf issue of the campaign, raising fears he could miss the biggest game of PSG’s season.

But speaking ahead of the final in Budapest, Dembélé insisted he never seriously feared being ruled out and says he is ready to help PSG defend the European crown they won so emphatically against Inter Milan last year.

“I wasn’t scared about missing the final,” Dembélé said.

“I had a niggle against Paris FC, so I stopped playing so I could be fit for the final.

“It has been a long season with no rest, going back to the Club World Cup, and the staff has managed that workload well.

“But personally, I am 100% ready to play and I’m hopeful things will go well tomorrow.”

The news is another welcome boost for Luis Enrique, who has spent the week managing concerns over the fitness of several key players.

Achraf Hakimi was also considered a doubt after suffering a thigh injury during PSG’s Champions League semi-final victory over Bayern Munich at the end of April.

The Morocco international has not played since that game but returned to training this week and has now been given the green light to feature against Arsenal.

Luis Enrique confirmed the attacking full-back is available.

“Hakimi is OK and able to play tomorrow,” the PSG manager said.

Dembélé heads into the final as one of PSG’s most important players.

His performances during last season’s successful European campaign helped him win the Ballon d’Or, with the former Barcelona winger producing eight goal contributions on the way to PSG lifting the trophy for the first time in club history.

Yet despite achieving football’s highest individual honour, Dembélé insists team success remains far more important.

“It didn’t really change anything — how I play or who I am,” he said.

“I have more responsibility on my shoulders now, and that comes with experience anyway, but I want to be great on the pitch in the big games and the smaller games.

“So nothing has changed.

“I still have the appetite to win things with the staff and the team.”

The 29-year-old believes individual awards will always take a back seat to collective achievements.

“Individual prizes get people talking, but they are secondary,” Dembélé added.

“I just want to win with PSG and keep the fans happy.”

PSG ended years of frustration by finally conquering Europe last season, thrashing Inter Milan 5-0 in Munich to claim their maiden Champions League title.

But Dembélé says the squad have already moved on from that achievement and are focused entirely on making history again.

“We always want to be playing a Champions League final at the end of May,” he said.

“We won for the first time last year, a historic night for PSG, but we have since reset everything.”

Now fully fit and ready to start, Dembélé will be central to PSG’s hopes of retaining their crown and denying Arsenal a first Champions League triumph in club history.