How Ousmane Dembélé’s Muslim Wife Rima Edbouche Helped Him Become a Ballon d’Or Winner

September 23, 2025 04:13 PM
The Wife Behind Ousmane Dembélé’s Ballon d’Or Triumph

Ousmane Dembélé completed a remarkable journey on Monday night, rising from a reputation as an immature, unprofessional, and injury-prone talent to being crowned the best footballer in the world with the Ballon d’Or.

As he wept on stage with his mother Fatimata by his side, the PSG and France star would have looked back on how he went from a £115 million disappointment at Barcelona to football’s summit. His rarely-seen wife, Rima Edbouche, also played a pivotal role in that transformation. Once a well-known figure on Muslim social media platforms, the 26-year-old has been credited with guiding Dembélé toward maturity, helping him abandon his reckless lifestyle and realise his full potential.

Dembélé’s career once seemed destined for waste: persistent injuries, poor discipline, lateness, obsession with video games, and even a racism scandal at Barcelona tarnished his name. But after marrying Rima in 2021, his life began to change. She recently posted a simple but powerful tribute on Instagram, sharing a photo of him with the Ballon d’Or and the caption: “Proud.”

Rima, born in Morocco, had amassed around 300,000 TikTok followers through her modest fashion and lifestyle brand Razalae before stepping away from the spotlight. Known for never showing her face in public, in line with her religious values, she and Dembélé have also kept their daughter’s name private, affectionately referring to her only as “The Catalan,” as she was born during his Barcelona spell

In recent months, after PSG’s World Club Cup defeat to Chelsea, Rima made her TikTok account private and later deleted it. She also wiped her Instagram before relaunching with a curated lifestyle-focused profile featuring destinations like Dubai and Courchevel, but keeping family life firmly private.

Despite her low profile, Rima’s influence has been profound. Her faith, discipline, and support have been credited with grounding Dembélé, turning him into a more dedicated professional. The couple’s 2021 Moroccan-style wedding in France was intimate, with only close relatives and friends present, surprising even some of his Barcelona teammates. Their daughter’s arrival a year later further encouraged his newfound focus as both a father and husband.

Since then, his work ethic has transformed. Viral clips of his relentless pressing for PSG last season showed a completely different player from the once casual, laid-back winger. He even hired a live-in nutritionist and travelled back to France for specialist treatments to avoid recurring injuries.

At Barcelona, flashes of brilliance were overshadowed by inconsistency. He missed 784 days through 14 different muscle injuries, compounded by poor lifestyle choices—late-night gaming, bad nutrition, and fines for punctuality issues. His lowest moment came when footage emerged of him and Antoine Griezmann appearing to mock Asian technicians in 2019. Though he later apologised, the scandal highlighted his immaturity at the time.

Now, however, that phase seems long gone. Dembélé is among PSG’s senior figures, displaying professionalism and leadership in the dressing room.

His parents also played an essential role in his rise. His Mauritanian-Senegalese mother, Fatimata, and Malian father, Ousmane Sr, moved to France for a better life. Football ran in the family, with his father an amateur player and his uncle Badou Sambagué a professional. Fatimata, in particular, was instrumental, acting as his first agent and helping secure his moves from Rennes to Dortmund and later Barcelona.

At the Ballon d’Or ceremony, she proudly stood beside her son, recalling their humble beginnings: “We never imagined this. Barcelona, yes—but the Ballon d’Or? To see your son as the best player in the world is incredible. Yet I can’t say I’m surprised.”

Dembélé, through tears, acknowledged her sacrifices: “She has been there for me through the hardest times.”

Without the resilience of his parents and the quiet strength of his wife Rima, the once troubled wonderkid may never have realised his immense promise. But with their support, his transformation from wasted talent to Ballon d’Or winner became possible.