Ousmane Dembele's stunned reaction to an Oldham Athletic fan has become a viral football moment. The Paris Saint-Germain forward reacted with wide-eyed disbelief when a guest on a television interview revealed his support for the League Two club.
During the show, host Kelly Somers introduced a crew member named Paul from Manchester.
The moment highlighted Oldham's unique place in football culture. The club, a founder member of the Premier League in 1992, spent two seasons in the top flight before a long slide through the divisions. They became the first Premier League side to drop into non-league football, a fact fans still sing about. Their status as a cult 'save' in Football Manager, where players manage obscure clubs to glory, is seen as the reason a global star like Dembele would know them. Supporting Oldham from Manchester, instead of United or City, was described as a form of local stubbornness elite players rarely encounter.
Oldham supporters treated the shoutout as a rare moment of validation. "There’s something so wholesome about world superstars knowing who the hell Oldham are," one fan commented online. Paris Saint-Germain's English-language social media account joined the fun, tagging Oldham Athletic and joking "Look after him on his next save." Oldham's own account replied to Dembele, asking if he fancied "a cold evening at Boundary Park?"
The clip was shared by Match of the Day and has amassed over 500,000 views. Fans created memes, with one joking that Dembele was "a poor man’s Dylan Bahamboula," referencing a former fan favourite who played for the Latics between 2020 and 2022. Another suggested the forward could "go up front" for Oldham's latest match, a 4-1 home defeat to Salford City on Saturday. That result leaves Micky Mellon's side 20th in League Two, with seven points from eight games, a position detailed in the club's standings. They face a trip to 22nd-placed Northampton Town this Saturday, a key fixture in their bid to improve a recent run of one win in five matches, with the full schedule available on the fixtures page. The team has conceded 14 goals in those eight games, a defensive issue they will need to address quickly.
