Ousmane Dembélé; A Fish Out of Water

In 2017, Ousmane Dembélé was chosen as one of the elites to play for the Spanish club, Barcelona. The 21-year-old footballer relocated from Borussia Dortmund, a German club, at the price of €105 M making him the fourth-most expensive Association Football transfer. A bar of expectations was set by many enthusiasts for the young star as a player of the top-notch F.C. Barcelona. So, there remained only one question; would Dembélé be able to live up to these expectations set by the many fanatics of F.C. Barcelona and the soccer world and would he be able to fill in the void left by Neymar Jr. when he left for PSG?

Upon first arriving at Barcelona, the French soccer player had a hard time learning Spanish. Communication in a team sport like soccer is key to achieving teamwork and achieving optimal performance. This made Ousmane Dembélé the outcast of the team as someone who could not attain harmony with the rest of the team due to a language barrier and inability to learn a new language.

All athletes alike are known for their diets and exercises. Their sustenance and workouts make or break their ability to keep on playing intense sports. At the time of arriving at Barcelona, a substantial amount of Dembélé’s diet consisted of junk food which further dwindled his performance. This led to an inconsistent amount of goals scored by the 21-year-old footballer. F.C. Barcelona was not satisfied when the forward managed to net only 3 goals in 17 games, in the 2017/18 season. Ousmane Dembélé seemed to not be able to carry the weight put on him by countless devotees of soccer.

Another star that plays for F.C. Barcelona and arguably the best player in the world is Messi. His distinguished performance has become a factor for the Spanish club to depend on in order to win. However, even the best players performance can falter when accompanied by the improper set of teammates. As a teammate of Messi and many other stars in F.C. Barcelona, it is Dembélé’s duty to assist his accomplices which is another task that he may not be able to achieve.

The French footballer might be relocated yet another time in January, the next transfer season, due to not being able to live up to his 105 million-pounds price tag. Furthermore, F.C. Barcelona has publicly stated that they are unwilling to trade unless the offer is higher than 88.7 million euros. However, a recent goal by the French footballer states otherwise.

It seems that Barcelona is growing tired of Dembélé who supposedly missed practice due to a poorly timed cold and sickness. However, after the call, a doctor was sent to check on the young soccer player and found nothing to be wrong with his health conditions. It is said that many young people, possibly friends of Dembélé's were found sleeping at his property. This further aroused the suspicion of Barcelona and invoked them to take action.

As a result of poor dieting, communication barriers, inconsistent goals and possibly lying to miss practice, Barcelona was provoked to act on Dembélé by transferring him in January. They Spanish team is certain the a Premier League team, most probably Liverpool, will be willing to offer as much as 100M euros for the Young international. This conveys the impression that Dembélé does not fit in with the crowd in Barcelona and may flourish with Liverpool in the Premier League.