Ousmane Dembele: The Star Who Never Shone In Catalunya

By Raphael Obanyiro U17MM1179

On the pitch (Dembele) is a phenomenon and it depends on him (how good he becomes). He has all the opportunity in the world to do what he wants. He can be one of the best.”
- Lionel Messi

On the 25th of August 2017, Spanish La Liga Giants announced that they had secured the signature of Borussia Dortmund’s No 7, Ousmanne Dembele for a fee in the region of 145 million euros plus add-ons. The footballing world was in euphoric mode, especially fans of the Blau and Grana.



Dembele’s flair, style, ambidexterity, mixed with great vision, technique and control kept spectators on their seats. After having a magnificent first season in the yellow and black where he scored 10 goals and provided 19 assists, Europe’s biggest teams were in for the French prodigy but it was the biggest team from Catalunya that secured his signature.

 
It seemed the ‘the next big French Superstar’ had made his way to Barcelona and was ready to display his gifts which was not in question before the Nou-Camp crowd as he did under the lights of the Signal Iduna park In Germany and be the Neymar-replacement many tagged him to be but things went downhill from then on.

After making his debut for Barcelona in a 5-0 win against Espanyol on the 9th of September 2017, He got his first league start the next week away at Getafe but it lasted only few minutes as he got substituted after tearing his hamstring and this was the beginning of what was going to be a dark journey for young Ousmanne and Barcelona supporters.

 His torn hamstring which kept him out for four months was the first of many niggling injuries for the French man, who struggled to live up to expectations placed on him. Ousmanne returned months later but he never remained the same. He got injured again just a few weeks after returning and was out for a month. This trend continued into the next season and the next and the next. He then faced a number of work ethic issues, showing up to a champions league match 25 minutes late, His coach at the French National team, Didier Deschamps was caught saying ‘Dembele has problems adapting to professional football. So I understand the problem to be with Dembele.’
Further reports spoke about Dembele’s circle of friends and his company. Michael Naya, Dembele’s former chef, spoke to Le Parisen about how the player was wrongly influenced.

He said “Ousmane is a good guy," Naya said to Le Parisien

From the heights of being one of the most sought after young players in the world, tipped to be a world beater, ahead of players like Kylian Mbappe, Marcus Rashford etc. to a player who had less than 50 goals in 6 years for the Catalan side and a player in and out of the French national team.

Ousmanne Dembele’s talent was never in doubt but his work ethic and lack of ambition had cost him more than he bargained for. The French winger opened up on his struggles to maintain fitness and how he wasted his prime years

"From 2017 to 2021 I wasted my time enormously," RMC Sport. "I have lost five years of my life. I had to work to be able to play, to be healthy and to be able to perform little by little.”

After having a good campaign for Barcelona last season helping Xavi’s men to lift their first La Liga trophy in four years, the Frenchman bids the Spanish team goodbye, although in a sad fashion especially for the coach and the many Barcelona supporters who had huge expectations on him but sadly can’t look back and say those expectations were lived up to.

But at 26, can he reinvent himself in a Paris Saint Germain shirt? That we hope to see.

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