Manchester City targeting Barcelona star
In the midst of a hot-and-cold career in Catalonia, Pep Guardiola believes he can get the best out of mercurial winger Ousmane Dembélé, according to Daily Star.
Since transforming Raheem Sterling into one of the world’s most dynamic forwards, Pep Guardiola believes he can guide Barcelona’s Ousmane Dembélé to reach his sky-high potential.
After signing from Borussia Dortmund for just over an initial £90 million in the immediate wake of the Neymar mega-transfer, Dembélé’s career at the Camp Nou has not reached the success he would have hoped for. From constant injuries, to questions of his character and commitment to football, the Frenchman has shown moments of absolute brilliance but is the ultimate example of a player lacking consistency.
Barcelona would reportedly listen to offers in the range of £86 million, which is a cut-price rate in the inflated modern transfer market. Dembélé would be a like-for-like potential replacement for Leroy Sané should he move to Bayern Munich, and could be the closest replacement City can find.
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Dembélé when healthy and motivated is a truly unique player. He is the world’s most two-footed player, and does not even know which foot is stronger than the other. In addition, he has blistering pace and is one of the world’s best dribblers, and can play on either flank.
Should he sign for City, Guardiola would most likely use the player’s diverse skillset on the right hand side, opposite Raheem Sterling.
However, big-name signings from clubs such as Barcelona are typically out of character for the Blues. The club under Guardiola tends to focus on bright young prospects that have not yet made the jump to an elite European club before molding them into stars.
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Signing the Frenchman would be a statement of intent should City lose Sané, and I truly believe that Guardiola could maximize Dembélé’s otherworldly talent. However, it is difficult to envision a signing like this because of the price tag and his previous issues with commitment.