Have we not learnt that there's far more to consider when signing players than their technical ability?
Ousmane Dembele
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Injury prone, massively inconsistent over past few seasons and only playing well now he needs a new contract, not a hard grafter, would be expensive. Avoid.
In his 5 years as a Barcelona player he was only seen improving in the last months of his third season. At that time Barcelona had planned to transfer him.
Now that his future is up in the air, he has another obvious improvement.
His seasons at Barcelona beyond injuries have been bad, even in games where he has scored a goal or given assists.
When a player is inconsistent and cannot maintain a certain level, the main reason is their decision-making. When this is not good, the player loses confidence and begins to make worse decisions. In the end it's a snowball.
He can improve a lot because he has physical and technical qualities and Xavi can help him improve decision making.
Cognitive ability is the most important thing in football today.
The answer is obviously NO. He is available for free. If Man Utd offer him £350k+ a week or higher he will play in Old Trafford next season. He is rumored to be on £210,000 a week now in Barcelona. I would love to see the best coach and players come to EPL that is for sure.
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He is playing well because he hasn't signed any contract. We will see his level when he does.
That's the thing, if he wouldn't demand €300k+ pw I would say, okay let's take a gamble on him for €100k pw and a lot of money paid in bonuses, but I doubt he would accept such an offer and Paris probably doesn't see a problem with paying him whatever he asks.
Agreed but the thing is United of late has only signed players with great technical ability very rarely that's why actual technical level of Current United is quite shocking to be honest .
Guy's asking for upwards of £600k a week from barcelona, that's why he hasn't resigned with them...
I know that figured's been thrown around a lot, but I still have a very hard time believing it's anywhere close to that. They can't be that delusional or they just really want out of Barcelona and are just pricing themselves out of an extension, but it doesn't feel like Dembele is looking to leave; he seems integrated with the team.
Without injuries, he's always been one of the sure things of his generation.
He will find a club willing to pay his salary because it is a free transfer. We will know the answer very soon about his professionalism. I hope he can prove people wrong he is not another Adebayor. He is quality. With Chelsea at current stage, only PSG and Man Utd can afford his salary so I can't see him go elsewhere, unless he is willing to accept lower salary and stay in Barcelona.
Professionalism and maturity are secondary to him staying fit, imo. He needs the right mentors and for his body to hold up first and foremost. He's not a Balotelli; he's not even an enfant terrible, just a kid with growing pains as far as what's been reported, which is where strong mentoring is vital.
In a world where he hasn't got the injury concerns, he's a no-brainer of a signing with most clubs and strong coaches being confident they can set him on a path where he isn't led astray and they can tap into him in the manner Xavi has done.
I don't believe the playing for a contract thing; he's always been an outstanding player in full flow; was my favourite player in the game at Dortmund, which I think I posted at the time. So yeah, for me, a fit Dembele is definitely in the running for the best wideman on the planet, and that would supersede signing concerns over attitude/professionalism in a manner him being a massive risk on the injury front, doesn't.
It really isn't just injuries - his mentality doesn't match his talent.
What are you specifically referring to with that?
The way he has been under other coaches, or the off field stuff?
Well I can't say what he's like with coaches as I haven't read much about it, but his gaming is a serious issue by all accounts.
Also the way he behaved towards Dortmund, and now Barca demanding stupid money when he hasn't delivered much.
Not sure why me saying he has a poor mentality piqued your interest? Do you think he has the mentality to be the best I'm the world? (He has the talent to do so).
I'd say it's intertwined with maturity and something he can - and most likely will - grow out of. It's obvious he needs mentoring, which is where I have no dispute as stated in my post because he has shown he can stray, but Xavi, rather than playing for a new contract (imo), is tapping into whatever it is that makes Dembele tick, and I bet there's little to no talk of him being a problem off the pitch at the moment.
As I said previously, I am inclined to believe any manager/coach worth their salt who likes the player wouldn't be put off by his behaviour up to this point in his career, but his injury record could have some avoid him like the plague.
As for mentality to be best in the world: he's already one of the best wingers, and expanding to other positions, it's more about who he's up against rather than him having 'it' within him as it generally always is. As long as he stays fit and is under the right tutelage, the dust will settle and determine his position on a world-level scale; I don't think that's ever changed, really. He's been written off for being a crock, primarily and obviously combining factors with the other concerns about him, it then becomes too much to work through, but remove injuries and it's nothing particularly bothersome, imo.
Injury prone and known as his bad attitude. Even if he matures and develops a better attitude, there is still big risk of him being an injury prone with high salary. There are other better RW options in the market IMO.
What i read before is Tuchel wanted him in Chelsea, before the sanction of course. He worked with him before I think you may be right. He may just need a right mentor to guide him along. There are lots of talk on whether Barcelona should give in to Dembele's salary demand given his latest form, or replace him with Traore, Antony or Raphinha.
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It's absurd that he's asking for the kind of money he is, if what we're hearing is true about his wage demands.
He may have the talent for that bracket, but he hasn't the fitness that states he'll be good value in terms of frequency he even plays. He's also hard to determine in terms of consistency as he's so often out; Barcelona haven't really a clue what he looks like over a concerted period of time. He has the talent, and his numbers when he does play are world class, but can he sustain it or even normalise it?
None of the aforementioned players are in his class, but they all play throughout a season - what good is Dembele if he plays a fraction of the games the others do, unless they're key ones with key contributions ala Bale at Madrid?
But yeah, it makes sense with Tuchel; I think Dembele comes with a caution sticker in that without the correct guidance, I don't think it'd be a surprise to read about him being in the headlines for the wrong reasons.
Absolutely loved him at Dortmund, the ability and way he played was mesmerising and so enjoyable. Personally I would put his time above there performance wise above ANY of the young players been there over the last several seasons, was that good.
not seen much of him at Barca, but looked good in recent games to me. Can understand the concerns over his attitude, wage demands and injury problems.....prevelant problems within our current squad.
On th eflip side though, Coutinho was fantastic at Liverpool and a massive flop at Barca as have many others been and gone on to do very well at other clubs.
The fact he is free is a huge thing for me though. We have spent money and big money for there ages and lack of experience on Pelelstri and Amad, still a slight degree of unknown refernce Greenwood even though liekly we wont see him again, then we have the likes of Garnacho maybe a season or two away. With that in mind, maybe Dembele is a very good option, if we can get him not on a monstrous wage and on a shortish contract with performance incentives as opposed to shelling out big money on a new right winger which almost signals no faith in te other names....but I expect there will be big interest in Dembele this summer and hunch the greed and money will play a big part in his decision.
But Dembele getting back to anything like his DOrtmund form plays for any side in the world
not seen much of him at Barca, but looked good in recent games to me. Can understand the concerns over his attitude, wage demands and injury problems.....prevelant problems within our current squad.
On th eflip side though, Coutinho was fantastic at Liverpool and a massive flop at Barca as have many others been and gone on to do very well at other clubs.
The fact he is free is a huge thing for me though. We have spent money and big money for there ages and lack of experience on Pelelstri and Amad, still a slight degree of unknown refernce Greenwood even though liekly we wont see him again, then we have the likes of Garnacho maybe a season or two away. With that in mind, maybe Dembele is a very good option, if we can get him not on a monstrous wage and on a shortish contract with performance incentives as opposed to shelling out big money on a new right winger which almost signals no faith in te other names....but I expect there will be big interest in Dembele this summer and hunch the greed and money will play a big part in his decision.
But Dembele getting back to anything like his DOrtmund form plays for any side in the world
No one will ditch Barcelona for man Utd unless there is massive difference in salary.
I still believe it started when Barca’s board called him better than Mbappe and Dembele‘s agent followed that up by asking for Mbappe wages.
That's seems so unrealistic, almost feels made up. I can't see a single club being willing to pay him that, free agent or not.
He was being heavily linked to us before the Abramovich stuff blew up. That salary would utterly destroy our wage structure. No club is going to pay him that, especially considering how the last 5 years of his career has been.
Don't think this guy is particularly reputable, but I actually have a feeling he might be right on this one. He will be a back up target to someone like Antony.
Is Tchouameni regarded as a "specialist CDM?"
I'm just asking because a specialist CDM sounds more like Rice or Kamara to me than Tchouameni.
Christ.
Imagine getting rid if Martial and replacing him with someone who is less half arsed than him.
Or if Martial doesn't leave and it ends up with both of them stinking up the place.
He's just not worth the hassle.
Imagine getting rid if Martial and replacing him with someone who is less half arsed than him.
Or if Martial doesn't leave and it ends up with both of them stinking up the place.
He's just not worth the hassle.
I would say it depends on the coach. Someone may think that's his best role, he currently doens't play that role for Monaco though.
Nothing wrong with it if he’s on a free. Even just to Depay him and sell him on for a 20m profit in 12 months time
I've read his wage demands are crazy. At the moment he's nearly world class but he's been crap for nearly 3 years.
Dembele is one of the most gifted player in the world his issues seem to be more related to injuries and bit of maturity, if he can stay fit and mature under the right manager he has the talent to be alongside Mbappe , Haaland's of the world .
It's weird how people can look down at our players then salivate over the same sh*t abroad.
Dumb post but par for course , Dembele has the talent to be amongst the best in the world if he can remain fit , under the right manager he would most probably achieve that .
Who in our team has the actual talent to be amongst the best in the world maybe only Sancho if we are being generous who himself have struggled badly this season ,most of the others even if they reach their full potential would still be level or two below world class level let alone amongst the best of the best .And when we say this for our players it's called excuses
Our players have had so much better stats than demebele except only this season (only in la Liga aswell not europa etc).
I do not trust this player. The wages he demands are far too high, then there's the injuries, the attitude, the racism controversy.
Hard pass.
Hard pass.
Regarding his salary demands from Barca, I’ve assumed he’s asked them to pay him like he would had he moved to another club on a “free” transfer where he would expect a large signing bonus in addition to a large salary, e.g., if PSG would be willing to pay him 300k/week for 5 years as well as 30m sign on fee..that could translate to 450k/week for Barca. That explains the ridiculous “ask”.
Always loved how two footed he is and how directly he runs at the defence. Beyond the injury concerns, I just can’t see him being happy in the EPL with the more physical game and winter weather. That money would be better spent elsewhere.
Always loved how two footed he is and how directly he runs at the defence. Beyond the injury concerns, I just can’t see him being happy in the EPL with the more physical game and winter weather. That money would be better spent elsewhere.
I'm really growing fond of the prospect of getting him but I'm afraid his stellar form is just a ruse to get a juicy contract when he leaves on free and immediately gets back to the hospital bed when the unfortunate buyer finalizes the contract.
He sure does have the talent though, but I guess it ain't worth considering that he does have a controversial side as well or at least capable of it.
He sure does have the talent though, but I guess it ain't worth considering that he does have a controversial side as well or at least capable of it.
watching the Barca vs Frankfurt game now - what a player. put it on a plate multiple times for Aubameyang.
No one actually knows what he asked for. Keep in mind that these "ridiculous demands" appeared at a convenient time just before the transfer window where Barcelona explicitely gave him an ultimatum about extending or not playing for them anymore. Before that Barcelona were publicly frustratred because he allegedly refused to enter negotiations which was initially the stick they were beating him with, that he wanted to leave as a free agent.
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