Désiré Doué is having a season to remember, with 10 goals and 11 assists in 41 games and 2,259 minutes.
At just 19 years old, he’s already becoming a massive player for the club and country.
He has also received his first senior call-up for the French national team.
Coming from Stade Rennais for a €50M fee, his market value was €30M, but as of March 24, 2025, it is €60M.
The talented French youngster is taking the footballing world by storm with his flair, dribbling, and exciting playing style.
In this Désiré Doué scout report, we will examine how he fits into Luis Enrique’s tactics at PSG, his strengths and weaknesses, and his potential as a player.
Désiré Doué Style Of Play
The 19-year-old is firmly on track to become an elite footballer.
Similarly to Miguel Ángel Benítez, Doué’s ball control, ability to manipulate in tight spaces, capacity to progress play, and body strength make him stand out.
He’s calm under pressure, strikes the ball cleanly, and consistently shows sharp tactical awareness and decision-making well beyond his years.
He used to play as a #8 or #10 but has now transitioned more into a left winger.
However, thanks to his vision and technical ability between the lines, he can still operate effectively either out wide or as a central attacking midfielder.
His speed and dribbling make him a significant threat on the flanks, while his body manipulation and shoulder drops, combined with his quick acceleration and burst, make him such an elite dribbler.
He’s already proven at senior level that he can protect the ball, outmuscle defenders, and stay composed under pressure.
Désiré Doué Radar Chart
Désiré Doué’s radar map highlights his profile as an attack-minded, right-central midfielder with outstanding offensive contributions.
This is because data websites label him as a right number 10, but Luis Enrique sees something different.
Doué’s attacking percentiles are elite.
His goal contribution per 90 (81.45 percentile) and expected goal contribution per 90 (96.25 percentile) indicate a strong presence in goalscoring situations.
His shots per 90 (98.1 percentile) and dribbles per 90 (98.1 percentile) indicate his confidence in taking on defenders and creating opportunities in the attacking zone.
Additionally, his opponent’s penalty area touches per 90 (98.1 percentile) shows his ability to dribble in tight spaces with virtually no time.
Doué’s received passes per 90 (87.0 percentile) and progressive passes per 90 (84.2 percentile) suggest that he is a key player in build-up play, effectively receiving and distributing the ball.
His dangerous passes per 90 (88.23 percentile) further emphasize his creative vision in midfield.
However, his accurate pass percentage (42.5%) is relatively low, which may show a high-risk, high-reward passing style.
Defensively, Doué is not as dominant.
His defensive duels per 90 (50.0 percentile) and defensive duels won percentage (59.2%) are average.
In comparison, his aerial duels per 90 (16.6 percentile) and aerial duels won percentage (33.3%) show limited involvement in aerial challenges.
Due to Doué’s weak defensive side, I view him more as a winger or a #10 than a #8, which is how people have labelled him.
Désiré Doué Dribbling Skills
Désiré Doué Dribbling pic.twitter.com/ft6Jhs1w68
— Footie Clips (@FootieClips) April 4, 2025
The best dribblers are those who can operate both centrally and out wide, as playing through the middle is much more demanding due to the tight spaces and limited time.
Doué’s game features elite-level dribbling, which is why he was originally used as a #10.
He can drive into central spaces and break lines but also has excellent timing when releasing the ball.
This makes him highly effective in transition, whether he’s progressing play or supporting his PSG’s build-up.
The video above shows the 19-year-old taking the ball from nearly the centre circle and progressing it into a complete attacking phase near the opponent’s penalty box, skipping quickly past players who can’t catch him.
Désiré Doué Penetrating Carries Map
From Doué’s penetrating carries map, you can see how he likes to make strides into the penalty box, mostly from wide-ish areas.
I say “wide-ish” since it’s not directly head-on facing the goal, but like the video we saw earlier, it’s from those angled areas where he feels comfortable, rather than facing the goal at 45 degrees.
Désiré Doué Ball Progression Map
His ball progression map shows the completed and unsuccessful attempts as he tries to take on opponents.
Of course, since Désiré Doué is more comfortable on the left side of the pitch, he has more attempts on that side.
Désiré Doué Playmaking Abilities
Désiré Doué Vision pic.twitter.com/8QAuSauaLM
— Footie Clips (@FootieClips) April 4, 2025
Désiré Doué’s playmaking ability encompasses not only his technical ability in executing passes but also his vision and understanding of his teammates and their runs.
The video above is a perfect example of how he takes one look up.
With such little time, the French youngster plays the perfect cross towards the back post, where he knows his teammate is going to run into, thanks to the technical ability to play it with perfect weight and speed.
It’s understanding your teammates and knowing where they’ll be with just a slight glance up.
Above is another example.
Doué can’t even see his teammate behind him making that run into space, but he understands that space is where he can exploit if he plays the pass.
Now, it’s very likely his teammate shouted his name as he made the run, but being able to balance all these things in a tight and pressured area just in the box and then play the pass perfectly for the goal is what makes his playmaking so good, it’s the vision and understanding.
Désiré Doué Assist Map
With 11 assists this season, Désiré Doué got a good balance of passes being made from both the left and right.
He’s comfortable on both sides of the pitch.
On the right side, he’s better as a number 10.
Still, on the left, he’s more of a winger, making him interchangeable and versatile for PSG’s tactics, which feature fluidity in attack, with players like Bradley Barcola, Ousmane Dembélé, and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia all swapping positions during the match.
Doué’s assist map above shows that he’s outperforming his xA.
Désiré Doué Progressive Passes Map
His progressive pass map ties into his similar ball progression and penetrating carries map.
He makes the runs from the angle towards a central area, but he also likes to play his passes off that same angle, take a man on, release the ball, and rinse and repeat.
More consistent minutes from start to finish of an entire season could fill that progressive pass map more.
But if you look carefully, the right side of the pitch has more passes from wider into central areas, where he’s comfortable as the 10, which I mentioned earlier.
On the left, it’s more on the width, where he’s more comfortable as a left-wing on the left.
Désiré Doué Shots Map
10.18 xG and 10 goals means he’s perfectly matching his xG.
It doesn’t mean he’s scored every good chance he’s had; it just means he’s being very consistent when shooting at goal.
However, what makes his shooting so special is his clean, striking ability.
The talented 19-year-old takes the half-second necessary to wrap his foot around the ball and hit it cleanly.
Part of the reason he has 10 goals is that he has played in multiple positions, including as a number 10 on the right and a winger on the left.
Now imagine him locking down one position for good.
Désiré Doué Physicality
Désiré Doué Physicality pic.twitter.com/Z9reMhxOQZ
— Footie Clips (@FootieClips) April 4, 2025
One unique aspect of Doué is his physicality, which I will mention below.
Although he lacks some mass, he stands at a decent height of 5’11” and still uses his body very well to keep the ball.
Interestingly, he possesses such speed, which is surprising for a player who is a bit smaller.
If you look at the video above, does this clip remind you of anything?
Maybe Eden Hazard against Arsenal?
The very famous clip where he takes on the entire Arsenal team across the whole pitch before scoring the goal?
It feels identical to that clip, but in this one, he plays the pass to his teammate to finish it.
But he shrugs off the first opponent, puts the second one off balance, and skips past him before getting to the box from half.
Conclusion
So, what is Désiré Doué’s best position?
Is it off the left as a winger or on the right as a number 10?
I wouldn’t say there’s one single best position for him, actually.
Think of Federico Valverde, who takes shifts at right wing but is a monstrous number 8 and can even take on a 6 or 10 role if needed.
His best role to get G/A out of him is off that left, but PSG has many elite wingers.
It may be worth putting him in that number 10 spot off the right so he can get consistent minutes and shift across the pitch into those wide zones here and there during the match.
This is just because they have so many talented wingers, and you can’t keep Doué on the bench anymore after the form he’s been in this season.
As the years pass, he will grow as a player, and I think he can even take on more roles as an “8” if necessary.
But his attacking talent is too good to keep him that far from goal.
There have been mentions of using him as a deep-lying playmaker to help with buildup or as an “8”, but the closer he gets to the goal, the better he is for your team, and Luis Enrique understands that.
