PSG’s Desire Doue takes a big step forward ahead of crucial Champions League and Ligue 1 battles

PARIS — It has taken a while but one of Paris Saint-Germain’s big summer signings is up and running after a much-needed week of positivity against Red Bull Salzburg in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday continued against Olympique Lyonnais in Ligue 1 on Sunday. Desire Doue has not enjoyed the easiest of starts to life in the French capital since his arrival from Stade Rennais back in August but the 19-year-old has finally started to find his feet this past week with three key goal contributions to boost his confidence.

Having starred with Les Bleus on home soil at the 2024 Olympic Games and moved to Parc des Princes off the back of that momentum, a lone assist in a 3-1 win away at Lille OSC was all that the Angers-born talent had to show for his Parisien stint until now. Doue started the week as a substitute in the must-win UCL clash with Salzburg which he came on in for the final 24 minutes or so and teed up Nuno Mendes to make it 2-0 before completing the scoring at 3-0 himself having been assisted by Achraf Hakimi.

Off the back of that positive cameo performance, Luis Enrique inserted the Frenchman into his staring XI at home to Lyon in Sunday’s big Championnat box office game in which he needed just eight minutes to provide for Ousmane Dembele to open the scoring. Denied what could have been a sumptuous finish into the top corner in the second half by an offside flag, Doue is finally motoring in Paris four months into his big move when Bayern Munich had also been suitors back in the summer.

“I would not say it was my night but that it was mainly the team’s night,” he said postgame 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. We were able to create lots of chances but defend well too — even if we conceded a goal. We applied pressure very well and followed the tactics the boss set out. We pressed them well and made things difficult. We made the game easier for ourselves.”

Luis Enrique made a few big personnel calls ahead of OL’s visit including Randal Kolo Muani, Milan Skriniar and Presnel Kimpembe being left out completely and Doue was one of the players to benefit most from the omission of Kolo Muani. Even more surprising was Goncalo Ramos and former Lyon star Bradley Barcola being left on the bench which gave the ex-Rennes man the opportunity to show Les Parisiens’ home fans a glimpse of what he is capable of when given the chance.

Now that has been done, there is real discussion to be had about how PSG line up going forward with Dembele, Barcola, Ramos and now Doue capable of mustering far more in front of goal than the French giants have shown pretty much all season so far. With AS Monaco to come at Stade Louis II this midweek before a testing Coupe de France clash away at RC Lens, this is a challenging period for Luis Enrique to deal with yet Doue offers him one more solution which did not appear to be the case even just one single week ago.

A goal and a few assists is unlikely to earn the PSG No. 14 a automatic starting berth but it does put him in the mix for increased involvement moving forward ahead of a critical run of games beyond Monaco and Lens in this next week or so. Les Monegasques — again — in the Trophee des Champions in Qatar, AS Saint-Etienne in Paris and RCL on the road again come before a massive Champions League visit from struggling Manchester City in a run which could come to define this campaign in the capital.

Doue did not look likely to play a huge part in that up until this past week but he is now well and truly part of the discussion and it is now up to him to augment that even further by keeping his current form going through this winter. Considering the outlay that PSG committed to bringing him in just a few months ago, it is about time that Luis Enrique started getting a return on that at a time when the Spaniard is facing criticism for rarely giving Kolo Muani a look in despite his big price tag.