The piece, standing 2.30 meters tall, weighs around 100 kilos. Its rounded and sleek shapes, inspired by Japanese pop culture where the artist lived for six years, give it the appearance of an inflatable character with a glossy, reflective surface. "Footballers love things that shine," smiles the artist.

​

The idea first sparked in October, when the Paris-region artist met the 2025 Ballon d'Or winner. "I had gifted him a small 35-centimeter figurine of himself. Since he liked it, I thought, 'Why not make a bigger one?'" Five months of hard work later—from the initial drawings to the final object assembled by a dozen people in the Juliarte workshop in Portugal—the timing was ideal to unveil the statue. "His birthday is on Friday (May 15), the club has just been crowned French champions, so it’s the perfect moment for this operation. And Ousmane has just been rewarded (voted Ligue 1's best player at the UNFP trophies on May 11), everything falls perfectly into place!"

​

The operation in question? Installing the statue in front of the PSG stadium for just under an hour, at 7:30 early in the morning and under the rain. Wrapped in countless layers of protective styrofoam, extracting the artwork from the van was undoubtedly the most delicate step. In fact, it required the help of all seven people in the artist's crew to lift it and place it on a wheeled board, the rollers of which were "fixed inside the car right before arriving."

​

The streets are quiet, nearly empty, only woken up by the passing of the city’s green street-sweepers. Two passersby stop to take a photo next to this XL-sized Dembélé. "It's a cool project and the result is beautiful," admires Nicolas, a Brazilian tourist out for a run, surprised to see such an object at this hour. "It's already incredible for me to be in front of this stadium, and with this statue on top of that, it was definitely worth passing by!"

However, YSY's crew must act fast, for the simple and good reason that no authorization was ever issued. "It's in the DNA of artists, and that's how I operate, but nobody came to bother us," YSY justifies. "PSG is aware of the sculpture, but not of our action today, and Dembélé knows nothing about any of this."

​

After a video shoot—"I'm happy, we got great footage, which is the most important thing for an artist"—the statue is packed up again. Next stop: the Poissy training center the following day, in the presence of the capital club's players. "Maybe it will inspire others," hopes the artist originally from Boulogne-Billancourt. "You never know, if a (Désiré) Doué or a Vitinha wants their own sculpture too! In my experience, that's how opportunities are created."

​

In September, the artwork will be auctioned off to benefit the Necker Hospital, in collaboration with the PSG Foundation. This is an institution YSY remembers vividly. "I was hospitalized there when I was four years old because I was very sick, and the doctors couldn't understand what was wrong with me. I almost underwent surgery for something I didn't have, but fortunately, it was canceled at the very last minute. It turned out I had Graves' disease, a form of hyperthyroidism."

​

Through his approach, Youssef Sy also wishes to "build bridges, create a social bond. I have always wanted to associate my art with causes that go beyond art and sport," he explains. "There is a quote from my friend Ronny Turiaf (a former NBA player) that I really love: 'You can succeed in sports without the ball.' In the Parisian suburbs, people often think that only sports can be a gateway to success, but I want to show that you can succeed through other means, like art."