Ousmane Dembele

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Right lads, Barca need cash to balance their books. This is how the deal will be structured:
1. United to purchase Dembele outright today (~50m)
2. United will have the right to exercise an option that will require Barcelona to buy back Dembele at the end of the season for a set amount (~40m).
The difference between 1 and 2 (~10m) will effectively be the price of the loan, plus 2 gives us the option to keep him at the agreed price of ~50m.
This is pure speculation, but I'm willing to bet it is how the deal will be structured if it happens.
Dream On. Tell you what give me another example of this deal for any player I might believe.

how much you willing to bet? Charity bet.
 
Insanely talented 23 year old world cup winner. If he stays fit, he'd be unplayable, best player in the league. Better than Sancho.

If the hamstring is really gone, it's a 100m+ mistake that will haunt the club for 5 years.

Need to be very certain on the medical, but it looks good I think we need to roll the dice.
 
Credit to @RkkMan

Below is according to a report from L'Equipe.


"What is striking is that the fact that until he signed for Barcelona for 145 million euros in 2017, Dembélé had never suffered an injury. Now, an in-depth L'Equipe report has focused on his private life and the reasons that may have led to his current injury crisis".

But despite the lifestyle changes, one gaping issue remains: he continues to pick up injuries at Barcelona after never having suffered an injury at either Rennes or Dortmund. This has led L'Equipe to highlight Barcelona's training methods as the reasons for his injuries.

Data retrieved from Dembélé's GPS monitor by the Aspetar Clinic in Doha, where the player has previously been treated, revealed something important. In training, only 20% of the time he is involved in plays was spent sprinting, while in matches that figure rose to a staggering 90%, which could suggest that the demands in games are beyond him.

In that sense, it is argued in the L'Equipe report that Dembélé's sprinter-type profile is not compatible with Barcelona's training methods, meaning when the demand significantly increases on him to sprint in matches he is more prone to injuries.

Speaking to L'Equipe, Michel Troin, the current assistant to Philippe Montanier at Monaco, who previously worked with Dembélé at Rennes, explained that: "There are club cultures that do not match the needs of the players they recruit." The report also cites the case of Frenkie de Jong, who, after moving from Ajax to Barcelona, had to hire a personal trainer during his first week to help him cope with the extra workload.

L'Equipe claim that a representative from Barcelona recognised that the club was responsible for Dembélé's chain of injures but the Catalan outfit were not prepared to admit blame publically. The French newspaper reports that a Barça executive even contacted his counterpart in Dortmund to try to understand the reasons why Dembélé had no muscle problems while in Germany.

The report ends with more statements from Michel Torin, in which he blames Barcelona for his current injuries woes: "Ousmane is not responsible for his situation. He is the victim of a precocious talent. At Rennes we had huge pressure on training and matches, only we didn't kill him.

"If you see the photos, his bone development had not finished; he still had growing to do. There was a rush to make him play because he is a phenomenon and now he is paying for it."
 
Credit to @RkkMan

Below is according to a report from L'Equipe.


"What is striking is that the fact that until he signed for Barcelona for 145 million euros in 2017, Dembélé had never suffered an injury. Now, an in-depth L'Equipe report has focused on his private life and the reasons that may have led to his current injury crisis".

But despite the lifestyle changes, one gaping issue remains: he continues to pick up injuries at Barcelona after never having suffered an injury at either Rennes or Dortmund. This has led L'Equipe to highlight Barcelona's training methods as the reasons for his injuries.

Data retrieved from Dembélé's GPS monitor by the Aspetar Clinic in Doha, where the player has previously been treated, revealed something important. In training, only 20% of the time he is involved in plays was spent sprinting, while in matches that figure rose to a staggering 90%, which could suggest that the demands in games are beyond him.

In that sense, it is argued in the L'Equipe report that Dembélé's sprinter-type profile is not compatible with Barcelona's training methods, meaning when the demand significantly increases on him to sprint in matches he is more prone to injuries.

Speaking to L'Equipe, Michel Troin, the current assistant to Philippe Montanier at Monaco, who previously worked with Dembélé at Rennes, explained that: "There are club cultures that do not match the needs of the players they recruit." The report also cites the case of Frenkie de Jong, who, after moving from Ajax to Barcelona, had to hire a personal trainer during his first week to help him cope with the extra workload.

L'Equipe claim that a representative from Barcelona recognised that the club was responsible for Dembélé's chain of injures but the Catalan outfit were not prepared to admit blame publically. The French newspaper reports that a Barça executive even contacted his counterpart in Dortmund to try to understand the reasons why Dembélé had no muscle problems while in Germany.

The report ends with more statements from Michel Torin, in which he blames Barcelona for his current injuries woes: "Ousmane is not responsible for his situation. He is the victim of a precocious talent. At Rennes we had huge pressure on training and matches, only we didn't kill him.

"If you see the photos, his bone development had not finished; he still had growing to do. There was a rush to make him play because he is a phenomenon and now he is paying for it."

What the feck are our methods?

The Phil Jones treatment I suppose. Get himself and a teammate crocked all in one tackle.

Or the Maguire special, manhandle your teammate with no regard for their health.

At least we can bring Giggsy back and teach him Yoga. It helped tremendously in curing Giggsys hamstrings. Looking back now it might not have just been the Yoga...
 
L'Equipe report via the link posted by @RkkMan

Dembélé's lifestyle changes
The French international currently lives in Barcelona with both his uncle and best friend, Moustapha Diatta. And following the issues with his lifestyle last season, his agent, London-based Moussa Sissoko, now often stays in Barcelona to keep an eye on him. Meanwhile, Anthony Audebaud, his full-time cook hired this season, has ensured that Dembélé has put aside junk food in place of a balanced and healthy diet.

"There are no longer any pre-cooked products or soft drinks, only fresh and healthy products, Ousmane is good at playing football and he thought that only that was enough, but he is growing and learning," Audebaud told L'Equipe.

"Today, he eats sea bream, sea bass, chicken and many vegetables. It's hard to see all this work and bad luck with injuries because they have never taken care of him so much. He is a very home-oriented and quiet lad; there are never parties at home. I imposed meal times because he asked me to and now everything is written down. He is very professional."

Aside from his diet and swapping Coca-Cola for fruit juices, he has also improved his sleeping patterns. Although, going to bed late is something all younger players do these days, according to a L'Equipe source.

"All the Generation 'Z' players go to bed late. They are not morning people. Twelve or one o'clock in the morning is early for them and it doesn't only happen with Ousmane. If we say that about him, we can also cite Benjamin Mendy, Lucas Hernández, Kylian Mbappé."
 
There's no way we will buy him. Donny's fee and Dembele's likely fee would have paid for Sancho. Not to froget Cavani's agent fee added on top.
 
Sorry this is a big assumption people keep making. With no evidence at all!!

had dembele had an injury before at BVB , then recovered then you would have a point. The fact is that yes he had no injuries before, that doesn’t mean anything. He got a really bad injury when he was at Barca, since then he has never really made it back. Yes it COULD be down to Barca,or it could be he just has had a bad injury that keeps coming back.
Isn`t it better to gamble with a player of Dembele`s quality than dross like Brooks/Sarr?? We`re not getting Sancho but it doesn`t mean we get nobody
 
What the feck are our methods?

The Phil Jones treatment I suppose. Get himself and a teammate crocked all in one tackle.

Or the Maguire special, manhandle your teammate with no regard for their health.

At least we can bring Giggsy back and teach him Yoga. It helped tremendously in curing Giggsys hamstrings. Looking back now it might not have just been the Yoga...
Our methods will involve a training program that is high intensity which is what he needs and not the low intensity sessions Barca were conducting due to their possession based play style.
 
There's no way we will buy him. Donny's fee and Dembele's likely fee would have paid for Sancho. Not to froget Cavani's agent fee added on top.
Agent fees don`t necessarily cut off our transfer budget so that means very little(plus its just 10m) and Dembele would cost circa 50m we can afford that if we can afford to pay 100m for Sancho
 
Our methods will involve a training program that is high intensity which is what he needs and not the low intensity sessions Barca were conducting due to their possession based play style.
Watching us play I really don't believe we have a high intensity training programme.
 
I think if we hadn't had the Sancho links for so long then this transfer would probably be viewed a lot more positively. We all wanted to sign him 2 or 3 years ago after all. The more I get used to the fact that Sancho isn't coming (:(:(:() the more quietly positive I feel about the Dembele signing. If we could get him for 60m then that has to be a bargain in the general scheme of things. There's an element of a gamble about it but 60m is Lukaku or Moussa Dembele money. It's not a crazy fee.
 
Add to that he doesn’t want to be here, and 60m on him has to mean no sancho

Signing two attackers that do not want to be here in the same window is how you drag a dressing room down when a morale boost is needed the most.
 
Watching us play I really don't believe we have a high intensity training programme.
We've been unable to press effectively but our training is tailored towards a fast transition play style which involves explosive players in the final third.
 
We've been unable to press effectively but our training is tailored towards a fast transition play style which involves explosive players in the final third.
Where is that written? I get we have players to do this, so naturally this will look like the case time to time, but I don't think we work on high intensity football in training.
 
Where is that written? I get we have players to do this, so naturally this will look like the case time to time, but I don't think we work on high intensity football in training.
It doesn't need to be written because both Solskjaer and McKenna favour fast transitions.
 
Credit to @RkkMan

Below is according to a report from L'Equipe.


"What is striking is that the fact that until he signed for Barcelona for 145 million euros in 2017, Dembélé had never suffered an injury. Now, an in-depth L'Equipe report has focused on his private life and the reasons that may have led to his current injury crisis".

But despite the lifestyle changes, one gaping issue remains: he continues to pick up injuries at Barcelona after never having suffered an injury at either Rennes or Dortmund. This has led L'Equipe to highlight Barcelona's training methods as the reasons for his injuries.

Data retrieved from Dembélé's GPS monitor by the Aspetar Clinic in Doha, where the player has previously been treated, revealed something important. In training, only 20% of the time he is involved in plays was spent sprinting, while in matches that figure rose to a staggering 90%, which could suggest that the demands in games are beyond him.

In that sense, it is argued in the L'Equipe report that Dembélé's sprinter-type profile is not compatible with Barcelona's training methods, meaning when the demand significantly increases on him to sprint in matches he is more prone to injuries.

Speaking to L'Equipe, Michel Troin, the current assistant to Philippe Montanier at Monaco, who previously worked with Dembélé at Rennes, explained that: "There are club cultures that do not match the needs of the players they recruit." The report also cites the case of Frenkie de Jong, who, after moving from Ajax to Barcelona, had to hire a personal trainer during his first week to help him cope with the extra workload.

L'Equipe claim that a representative from Barcelona recognised that the club was responsible for Dembélé's chain of injures but the Catalan outfit were not prepared to admit blame publically. The French newspaper reports that a Barça executive even contacted his counterpart in Dortmund to try to understand the reasons why Dembélé had no muscle problems while in Germany.

The report ends with more statements from Michel Torin, in which he blames Barcelona for his current injuries woes: "Ousmane is not responsible for his situation. He is the victim of a precocious talent. At Rennes we had huge pressure on training and matches, only we didn't kill him.

"If you see the photos, his bone development had not finished; he still had growing to do. There was a rush to make him play because he is a phenomenon and now he is paying for it."
Interesting excerpts.

RE: training — Isn’t it a bit of an online theory that Barca do very little intense training (as the article you’re posting alludes to) due to the age of the squad; which is/was stacked with players in their early to mid 30’s? It does seem logical.
 
Interesting excerpts.

RE: training — Isn’t it a bit of an online theory that Barca do very little intense training (as the article you’re posting alludes to) due to the age of the squad; which is/was stacked with players in their early to mid 30’s? It does seem logical.
It's probably why they do that which is a good point you've raised.
 
It doesn't need to be written because both Solskjaer and McKenna favour fast transitions.
They say they favour this, I don't see this as high intensity. I see Southampton, Liverpool, Leeds, City as high intensity. Ole says he wants us as the fittest and best pressing side in the league, it doesn't mean that's what we are.

We are far, far off that, and that leads me to believe something is wrong in training - i.e.we aren't following an approach that correlates with his words.
 
feck it, I’m in.

Get him. At least we have a chance then. IF he stays fit, then we have potentially one of the best forwards in the league and a good chance of getting the top 4
 
I think we'll end up buying him outright.

Which would be a mistake - not the mentality you'd think Ole is going for, and if he's got an injury record like that in La Liga, he's in for a shock playing in the EPL.
 
They say they favour this, I don't see this as high intensity. I see Southampton, Liverpool, Leeds, City as high intensity. Ole says he wants us as the fittest and best pressing side in the league, it doesn't mean that's what we are.

We are far, far off that, and that leads me to believe something is wrong in training - i.e.we aren't following an approach that correlates with his words.
I don't think the issue is the training but rather the players he's bought/inherited who are unsuited to enforcing high pressure which doesn't provide the defensive balance either on the turn over.

I hope I don't invoke the wrath of some fans but it looks like a coaching issue compounded by placing square pegs in round holes.
 
L'Equipe report via the link posted by @RkkMan

Dembélé's lifestyle changes
The French international currently lives in Barcelona with both his uncle and best friend, Moustapha Diatta. And following the issues with his lifestyle last season, his agent, London-based Moussa Sissoko, now often stays in Barcelona to keep an eye on him. Meanwhile, Anthony Audebaud, his full-time cook hired this season, has ensured that Dembélé has put aside junk food in place of a balanced and healthy diet.

"There are no longer any pre-cooked products or soft drinks, only fresh and healthy products, Ousmane is good at playing football and he thought that only that was enough, but he is growing and learning," Audebaud told L'Equipe.

"Today, he eats sea bream, sea bass, chicken and many vegetables. It's hard to see all this work and bad luck with injuries because they have never taken care of him so much. He is a very home-oriented and quiet lad; there are never parties at home. I imposed meal times because he asked me to and now everything is written down. He is very professional."

Aside from his diet and swapping Coca-Cola for fruit juices, he has also improved his sleeping patterns. Although, going to bed late is something all younger players do these days, according to a L'Equipe source.

"All the Generation 'Z' players go to bed late. They are not morning people. Twelve or one o'clock in the morning is early for them and it doesn't only happen with Ousmane. If we say that about him, we can also cite Benjamin Mendy, Lucas Hernández, Kylian Mbappé."

Mason Greenwood, Brandon Williams, Perreira etc.

I think Dembele is our best (and only realistic) option right now. I just hope the club only agrees to a loan deal even if it means we pay the majority of the salary.

Option to buy but definitely no obligation.
 
They say they favour this, I don't see this as high intensity. I see Southampton, Liverpool, Leeds, City as high intensity. Ole says he wants us as the fittest and best pressing side in the league, it doesn't mean that's what we are.

We are far, far off that, and that leads me to believe something is wrong in training - i.e.we aren't following an approach that correlates with his words.

Thats because Ole is all talk, we need to stop believing everthing he tells us.
 
Looks like it's Dembele or bust seeing as Sancho looks dead in the water now.
So i wonder how quickly we'll see things move on this, when the club finally realise that Sancho is unobtainable. Will Barca allow a loan move, or will it have to be a permy transfer?
 
I don't think the issue is the training but rather the players he's bought/inherited who are unsuited to enforcing high pressure which doesn't provide the defensive balance either on the turn over.

I hope I don't invoke the wrath of some fans but it looks like a coaching issue compounded by placing square pegs in round holes.
I'm sorry I do not buy this one bit. Rashford, Martial, Bruno, Greenwood are all capable of pressing teams high. It's more likely the case that Ole has no clue on how to implement an actual pressing system. You have the likes of Ralph Hassenhuttle who inherited less and achieved more off the ball. The same goes for Bielsa. This is nothing to do with our players that he inherited.
 
With that injury record we are the last club to make him stay fit.

Only a loan deal would make some sense. Buying him would be a disaster, but our board is going to do exactly the latter.
 
Loan with option to buy is perfect.

If he works out, we have someone who is arguably the most talented player of his generation at a good fee and can look towards adding Sancho next season. if not, then we go all in for Sancho next summer irrespective.

A purchase is risky, but if it comes down to it, I'd bite the bullet. He is worth the risk.
 
I'm sorry I do not buy this one bit. Rashford, Martial, Bruno, Greenwood are all capable of pressing teams high. It's more likely the case that Ole has no clue on how to implement an actual pressing system. You have the likes of Ralph Hassenhuttle who inherited less and achieved more off the ball. The same goes for Bielsa. This is nothing to do with our players that he inherited.
You have to press high as a team though. Do you fancy our midfield and defence to press high up the pitch ? because I dont.

Anyway, whichever way its a shambles. We dont seem to have a clear direction as such.
 
Glad we've seen sense. Could never get my head around spending 108m on Sancho when Dembele was possibly available. Hope we get him for 110m.
 
I'm sorry I do not buy this one bit. Rashford, Martial, Bruno, Greenwood are all capable of pressing teams high. It's more likely the case that Ole has no clue on how to implement an actual pressing system. You have the likes of Ralph Hassenhuttle who inherited less and achieved more off the ball. The same goes for Bielsa. This is nothing to do with our players that he inherited.
You can't press high effectively if your midfield, Fullbacks, and CBs don't move up in tandem once the press is triggered.
 
You have to press high as a team though. Do you fancy our midfield and defence to press high up the pitch ? because I dont.

Anyway, whichever way its a shambles. We dont seem to have a clear direction as such.
I would fancy us to press high but not too high. I want to see a systematic press where we often double up on a player rather than half heartedly get close to a man. I see some players actually press (like Rashford and Bruno on occassion) and others not really do anything. We were outpressed and outworked before the red card by Tottenham and Jose wasn't exactly the pressing king with us. Heck its happened with many teams.
 
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