Of the more frustrating players currently in the game, Ousmane Dembélé is among the worst.
The Frenchman joined Barcelona back in 2017 for £112m as the Catalans paid big money in search of a replacement for Neymar.
Dembélé’s time at the Nou Camp has not been a happy one, though, with the 22-year-old yet to live up to the hype and expectation he created during his time with Borussia Dortmund and Stade Rennais.
Dembélé has managed 60 appearances in all competitions in his two years at the Nou Camp, with a series of niggling injuries limiting his game time.
There have also been numerous incidents in which his attitude has been brought into question, such as the furore surrounding his latest injury.
Some believe the 22-year-old doesn’t show the attitude required to be a star, which is a theory former teammate Kevin-Prince Boateng seems to subscribe to.
“He is very calm, does not talk much. He is still like a child to me. You have to take him as he is and it may be that he’s late (to training)” he told Sport Bild.
“There are players who do that in defiance, but that’s different with him, he’s just like a little boy. One who earns a lot of money. One who is extremely public. You have to point him in the right direction.
“For me, he’s still a little boy who was thrown into this giant pool, suddenly cost €150m overnight, and still doesn’t know how it all works because he just wants to play football.”
