Bought for £112m in 2017 by Barcelona, Ousmane Dembélé hasn’t quite hit the heights many expected him to in Spain, and this season has seen him struggle more than ever.
Unable to stay fit, the 22-year-old has played just one game in the 2019-20 campaign so far, hindered by a hamstring injury, but he is expected to make an appearance in the upcoming game against Villarreal, as he was included in the squad by Ernesto Valverde ahead of fully fit players like Ivan Rakitić.
His off the pitch behaviour has also been questioned, as his love for video games, staying up until late at night, and diet were highly criticised.
All of this is quite surprising for one of his former managers, Julien Stéphan, who is now in charge of Dembélé’s starter club, Rennes, as he was asked about the talented forward in an interview with Le Parisien.
He said: “He was never injured with us. He was at every training and played all games without any physical problems. He was the first every day at training. He loved it.
“I don’t know what’s going on in his daily life, but, of course, it’s worrying. There’s reasons for it all, that’s for certain. He has to know them and change things so that it doesn’t happen again”.
That’s the hope of everyone in Catalonia, as many only want the player to reach his full potential, which should be to challenge among the best in the world if he puts his head down and works hard.
That, and the fact the 2020 Euros are right around the corner and a poor season down his end would see his spot in Didier Deschamps’ squad be at risk.
