Ousmane Dembele - Barcelona Player

They might as well have kept Adama Traoré and saved the money.

Harsh but fair for the moment. Dembele has shown an awful lot of playmaking ability in general but has clearly struggled to pull it all together so far. There's a lot of huge potential upside which he can realistically achieve, unlike Traoré, but at the moment I'd say it's 50-50 whether he succeeds.

Is it the Salah bit that bothers you? Hazard and Iniesta don't dribble like Messi. They are great dribblers but they don't have the same style. You watched him last week?



That's a very odd appreciation of Messi's dribbling. The defining feature of his dribbling is his exceptional ability in tight spaces. The video you posted perfectly demonstrates Dembele's dribbling becomes very clumsy in tight spaces and is mostly useful with a lot of open space.
 
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I believe it will depend largely on griezmann deal as it will definitely not be a cheaper one and specially a transfer to direct rival.

We already know how much Griezmann will cost, 100M euro. That's the cost of his release clause this summer.
 
Doesn't really matter IMO. Dembele would need assurances regarding playing time. Why would he swap benches based on an assumption that Salah could leave next year?

I don't think Sandro (27) and Toby (29) are in the wrong end of their 20s. They are in their primes.
Willian I agree, but Willian is a proven quantity and would cost 40 million, Dembele had one good season, at Dortmund where everyone from Kagawa, Mikhi and many others have looked like world beaters only to get found out playing in a different system.
Spending 80-90 mill on a player like Dembele could be a big risk especially when we have 5 other positions in need of re enforcement.
Loan with an option to buy is a no Brainer, but why would Barca agree to that?
Also the guy clearly wants to play for Barca only and if he is bring forced out, I don't really know how he would do here especially since there have been questions regarding his mentality and diets.


Dembele was stuck in a hotel for several weeks, without being able to go to the training ground, alone in the Catalan city. His time was taken up playing video games and phoning his friends and family in France.

The problem became bigger when the club discovered his bad eating habits, those of most young kids.

Barça intervened to help him organise his life in a manner more fitting of a top-level footballer, moving him away from his fast-food diet. "He must use Samuel Umtiti as an example, who has a more monastic life. Dembele's a kid of 20 years, a millionaire in a city with a lot of temptations. A little order in his life would do him good," a source from the club told Le Parisien.

Dembele asked for three flats in Barcelona, on top of each other. One for him, another for his father and the third for his mother -- they are separated. The petition couldn't be attended because the club couldn't find a suitable option. Finally, they found a flat in the north of the city, where it's normal for his friends to spend a lot of time with him.


https://www.sport-english.com/en/ne...-dembele-complete-his-complex-landing-6644112

Making big demands, poor lifestyle, thinking that he has already made it - none of this would work well with Mourinho.

There's so much sense in this post that I have no idea how to tackle it. I agree with most you've said however let me give my opinion on the different topics

a- I wasn't aware of Dembele's lack of professionalism. If that's the case I don't want him anywhere near to OT. He'll come on a huge fee and a huge salary so he must be professional. We're quite suckers with these sort of players (Shaw, Anderson) whom for some silly reason end up becoming some sort of fan favourites. We don't need that drama


b- I have nothing against us signing Sandro. Our team is screaming for a top quality LB and we can't keep playing around with that position. In fairness if Mou thinks that Toby is the right leader to take us forward then I am not against signing him either. However the price must be right + if he's indeed the leader Mou need to take us forward then surely he can remove some if not all 26-29 year old CBs we have and replace them with someone younger who would actually benefit of having a leader/mentor alongside them

c- On Willian I fully agree.
 
We should be in for Dembele if the price is right. Yes he's struggled at Barca this year but that's more because of their style than his ability.

With the space our right flank creates he could be devastating 1v1 with a fullback, we've been crying out for a player with his speed/directness.
 
Dembele doesn't fit premier league, everyone will bully him. Bullet dodged
 
Harsh but fair for the moment. Dembele has shown an awful lot of playmaking ability in general but has clearly struggled to pull it all together so far. There's a lot of huge potential upside which he can realistically achieve, unlike Traoré, but at the moment I'd say it's 50-50 whether he succeeds.



That's a very odd appreciation of Messi's dribbling. The defining feature of his dribbling is his exceptional ability in tight spaces. The video you posted perfectly demonstrates Dembele's dribbling becomes very clumsy in tight spaces and is mostly useful with a lot of open space.

If he's getting compared to Adama Traore, then surely he must the worst signing of the season considering the price tag?
 
Does signing Griezmann solve any problems for Barca?
I think signing him creates more problems in the squad especially regarding Dembele and trying to fit everyone in.
Also I read he's going to be on 340,000 a week with transfer fee being a bit higher than the release clause as Atletico are not ready to let him go to their rivals.
Do they really need another attacker on sky big wages?
Griezmann is being signed as Suarez long term replacement. Its just spells bad news for Coutinho and Dembele
For they will probably have to fight for one place in the XI
 
would be great to get him, don’t see it happening though. Will likely end up somewhere where he’ll come correct and we’ll always wonder why we didn’t make a move.
 
Griezmann is being signed as Suarez long term replacement. Its just spells bad news for Coutinho and Dembele
For they will probably have to fight for one place in the XI
That maybe the case but this is what Suarez had to say in one of his tap up sessions :

"He's welcome [at Barcelona]. He's not coming to take anyone's place, but with the ambition to do big things with the best club in the world. I'm proud that Barca keep signing players of such quality."

Also I remember another Barca player saying Griezmann plays as a shadow striker at Barca, that's where he's best at or something along those lines.
I don't think he will be replacing Suarez, at least not this year. Even if he does, is he really very good as solo striker/false 9?Isn't he at his best playing off a target man like he does for France and Atletico?

Also making Coutinho or Dembele sit on the bench is very poor team management. They paid 110 million plus for each of them.
And now they are having this huge dilemma about Dembele because Griezmann is coming in.
As of now Griezmann is creating more problems for them that he could potentially solve.
 
If he's getting compared to Adama Traore, then surely he must the worst signing of the season considering the price tag?

No one is comparing him. If you take into account he's moved to a new country with a new language and teammates, he was injured for most of it, and he's played off the bench for the most part, he's still average a goal/assist per 92 minutes. I think everyone is getting really carried away with the rumors of his exit or lack of performance. He's just very raw still, he can make complicated things look easy and easy things complicated. Valverde is well aware he has a young player on his hands and has already spoken of how they need to be patient and they want Dembele to stay.

I also think if by some miracle he was available to Manchester United, although he could be a huge hit because he is immensely talented and could provide a lot of options from either wing, there's as much if not a higher likelihood that he will be a huge headache to manage for Mourinho and he may not adapt. I would stay away even if he was a possibility for the price he'd cost.
 
If he's getting compared to Adama Traore, then surely he must the worst signing of the season considering the price tag?

If you look at him as a direct Neymar replacement then probably yeah, but I wouldn't look at it that way personally. Neymar didn't manage to get into double figures for league goals in his first season and was introduced quite gently too. Dembele was always a long-term signing I think. And I'm not sure his value will have depreciated much.

Compare that to someone like Morata who was undoubtedly brought into be the main striker, a replacement for a key player, and he ended up not being trusted to play in the crunch period of the season. I'd rate him on a different level entirely. I don't give much thought to transfers so no-one else comes to mind right now, but I reckon there's a few others worse tham Dembele.
 
Not if Dembele settles in. For Im far from convinced Coutinho will ever be good enough to fit into the Iniesta he was supposedly bought to fill. I see Messi taking it up instead. Meaning Coutinho will be in a straight fight for a front 3 role with Dembele
Which is what I meant, I don't see Dembele being intelligent enough nor technically good enough to clinch a regular spot there. I still don't understand how they paid so much for a player who doesn't seem like a good fit technically wise
 
Which is what I meant, I don't see Dembele being intelligent enough nor technically good enough to clinch a regular spot there. I still don't understand how they paid so much for a player who doesn't seem like a good fit technically wise
Simply to appease their supporters. They needed a big name attacker, and he was hyped up after last year. It was far too early for him to go to Barca either way. Should have stayed at Dortmund for another year at least.
 
Simply to appease their supporters. They needed a big name attacker, and he was hyped up after last year. It was far too early for him to go to Barca either way. Should have stayed at Dortmund for another year at least.
I know and it's not a surprise he's been struggling (fitness and football wise). Specially at that amount, you would want a confirmed player at a high level. Worst attempt to appease their fans, it's just didn't have any repercussions as their league campaign had a cracking start
 
Griezmann is being signed as Suarez long term replacement. Its just spells bad news for Coutinho and Dembele
For they will probably have to fight for one place in the XI
Pretty sure Barca have stated they signed Coutinho to take Iniesta's slot in the team as a creative midfielder rather than attacker - this half of the season was all about him settling into Barca's way of playing etc. So this signing shouldn't affect him too much.
 
Saw him yesterday.

Very quick and looks decent. Wouldn't mind here if Barca want to get rid.
Surely we'd be better off going for the American kid from Dortmund instead? Would be cheaper and probably playing at the same level. Can't see how Dembele has progressed much after spending most of the season injured.
 
Surely we'd be better off going for the American kid from Dortmund instead? Would be cheaper and probably playing at the same level. Can't see how Dembele has progressed much after spending most of the season injured.

IMHO he didn't really have to progress to be better than Rashford and Martial. The kid's really good.
 
Surely we'd be better off going for the American kid from Dortmund instead? Would be cheaper and probably playing at the same level. Can't see how Dembele has progressed much after spending most of the season injured.

They want about £90m for Pulisic apparently and he isn't exactly worth it from what I have seen. He flatters to deceive with his excellent dribbling but doesn't affect the game that much and he is physically pretty small, short and skinny.

That said, he is still 19, Dortmund have been crap this season so I wouldn't write him off but he doesn't look the talent the hype suggests.
 
Pretty sure Barca have stated they signed Coutinho to take Iniesta's slot in the team as a creative midfielder rather than attacker - this half of the season was all about him settling into Barca's way of playing etc. So this signing shouldn't affect him too much.
He will never be good enough to take up that role. I fully expect Messi to be the one to end up in that role long term
 
We should be in for Dembele if the price is right. Yes he's struggled at Barca this year but that's more because of their style than his ability.

With the space our right flank creates he could be devastating 1v1 with a fullback, we've been crying out for a player with his speed/directness.

I thought you created that space by not having anyone out there.
Actually not seen him play really, I read a lot about his dribbling skills but how is he for pace?
 
They want about £90m for Pulisic apparently and he isn't exactly worth it from what I have seen. He flatters to deceive with his excellent dribbling but doesn't affect the game that much and he is physically pretty small, short and skinny.

That said, he is still 19, Dortmund have been crap this season so I wouldn't write him off but he doesn't look the talent the hype suggests.

Agree with you on Pulisic. I've watched him play but he's a strange case. He's ahead of a lot of 18 year olds in terms of development but yet he doesn't look anything special.. if that makes sense.
 
So another Dortmund player appears to be struggling in a non-Dortmund team.
Some may say that it's too early to suggest this. I would argue that when you spend £135M (or whatever fee it was), that regardless of age/experience, you are expected to make immediate impact. You don't make a player one of the most expensive players in history, to "see how he develops". You pay that money for instant impact.

Surely we'd be better off going for the American kid from Dortmund instead? Would be cheaper and probably playing at the same level. Can't see how Dembele has progressed much after spending most of the season injured.

What is with the obsession with Dortmund players?
Time and time again, they seem to fail after moving away from Dortmund.
With the above in mind, I'd much rather we buy a player from a club, which does not have such a high (transfer) failure rate.
 
Barca basically paid €130-150m for Dembele. I don't see them giving up on such an investment so early and if they do it signals such deep character flaws in Dembele that I don't see another club (PSG aside maybe) be willing to pay anything close to what Barca forked over.

3 goals 7 assists in under 900 league minutes, plus that great goal against Chelsea in the CL, despite missing more than half the season, doesn't spell flop to me either.
 
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So another Dortmund player appears to be struggling in a non-Dortmund team.
Some may say that it's too early to suggest this. I would argue that when you spend £135M (or whatever fee it was), that regardless of age/experience, you are expected to make immediate impact. You don't make a player one of the most expensive players in history, to "see how he develops". You pay that money for instant impact.



What is with the obsession with Dortmund players?
Time and time again, they seem to fail after moving away from Dortmund.
With the above in mind, I'd much rather we buy a player from a club, which does not have such a high (transfer) failure rate.
Dembele has spent most of the season injured and was then rushed back, only to get injured again, if that's struggling then I guess he's fecked. I'd hesitate to write him off at this stage, he was also brilliant in France before his move to Dortmund.

Dortmund don't have a big budget so they shop around in obscure leagues and pick up young players that suit their style of play, develop them and sell them on. If you're a young talented player, you owe it to yourself to move to Dortmund if you want to get game time at a high level. There's no obsession with Dortmund players because they play for Dortmund, it's because they're good players.
 
Barca basically paid €130-150m for Dembele. I don't see them giving up on such an investment so early and if they do it signals such deep character flaws in Dembele that I don't see another club (PSG aside maybe) be willing to pay anything close to what Barca forked over.

3 goals 7 assists in under 900 league minutes, plus that great goal against Chelsea in the CL, despite missing more than half the season, doesn't spell flop to me either.
I don't think it's Dembele's fault to be honest, Barcelona have made no secret about the fact they feel they could be wasting Messi's best years by playing him in a team that isn't good enough to win Champions Leagues. They can't really afford to wait a couple of seasons for Dembele to come good if Messi won't be peak Messi at that point.

Messi might well be the greatest player of all time but there will be a whole bunch of players at Madrid with more major honours than him, especially a certain Ronaldo.
 
Barca basically paid €130-150m for Dembele. I don't see them giving up on such an investment so early and if they do it signals such deep character flaws in Dembele that I don't see another club (PSG aside maybe) be willing to pay anything close to what Barca forked over.

3 goals 7 assists in under 900 league minutes, plus that great goal against Chelsea in the CL, despite missing more than half the season, doesn't spell flop to me either.

People talking about us wanting to give up on him, or selling him for 90M don't really know anything about Barcelona and this board.

We paid 35+20M for Gomes, who was 2 years older, and we've given him quadruple the amount of chances his level here deserved, imagine how eager the board must be to prove they weren't wrong with a 105+40M transfer, only way I can see him leaving is if he has a great world cup and another club wants him for the fee Barcelona have already paid or bigger. I doubt that's going to happen and we'll keep him for at least two extra seasons.
 
We should be in for Dembele if the price is right. Yes he's struggled at Barca this year but that's more because of their style than his ability.

With the space our right flank creates he could be devastating 1v1 with a fullback, we've been crying out for a player with his speed/directness.
How do you figure he's struggled at Barca? The kid basically hasn't played because of injury.
 
I don't think it's Dembele's fault to be honest, Barcelona have made no secret about the fact they feel they could be wasting Messi's best years by playing him in a team that isn't good enough to win Champions Leagues. They can't really afford to wait a couple of seasons for Dembele to come good if Messi won't be peak Messi at that point.

Messi might well be the greatest player of all time but there will be a whole bunch of players at Madrid with more major honours than him, especially a certain Ronaldo.

You do realize Messi is pretty significantly ahead of Cristiano on major honors, especially in La Liga?
 
No brainer to go all out for him if he's available. We get an absolute elite level talent and deny our rivals from getting him.
 
Doesn't really matter IMO. Dembele would need assurances regarding playing time. Why would he swap benches based on an assumption that Salah could leave next year?

I don't think Sandro (27) and Toby (29) are in the wrong end of their 20s. They are in their primes.
Willian I agree, but Willian is a proven quantity and would cost 40 million, Dembele had one good season, at Dortmund where everyone from Kagawa, Mikhi and many others have looked like world beaters only to get found out playing in a different system.
Spending 80-90 mill on a player like Dembele could be a big risk especially when we have 5 other positions in need of re enforcement.
Loan with an option to buy is a no Brainer, but why would Barca agree to that?
Also the guy clearly wants to play for Barca only and if he is bring forced out, I don't really know how he would do here especially since there have been questions regarding his mentality and diets.


Dembele was stuck in a hotel for several weeks, without being able to go to the training ground, alone in the Catalan city. His time was taken up playing video games and phoning his friends and family in France.

The problem became bigger when the club discovered his bad eating habits, those of most young kids.

Barça intervened to help him organise his life in a manner more fitting of a top-level footballer, moving him away from his fast-food diet. "He must use Samuel Umtiti as an example, who has a more monastic life. Dembele's a kid of 20 years, a millionaire in a city with a lot of temptations. A little order in his life would do him good," a source from the club told Le Parisien.

Dembele asked for three flats in Barcelona, on top of each other. One for him, another for his father and the third for his mother -- they are separated. The petition couldn't be attended because the club couldn't find a suitable option. Finally, they found a flat in the north of the city, where it's normal for his friends to spend a lot of time with him.


https://www.sport-english.com/en/ne...-dembele-complete-his-complex-landing-6644112

Making big demands, poor lifestyle, thinking that he has already made it - none of this would work well with Mourinho.
Bonkers. No one in their right mind picks Willian over Dembele.
 
Think he'd fit in very well at RW providing Lukaku with passes and Pogba with an option for long switches. I'd be incredibly excited about this and happy if we spent like half the summer budget on it with the rest going to a starting LB and a quality CM, even if it meant praying our best CBs stay healthy and form a partnership or we can wring a year of solid play out of Valencia/Young at RB.
 
Should sniff out a swap move between Dembele and Martial. Their respective styles and positions seem to suit us/Barca pretty well actually.

Won’t happen of course :p