After a rough debut season, Dembele beginning to shine

After an injury-plagued debut season, Dembele has turned things around and become a crucial part of Ernesto Valverde’s team.

Ousmane Dembele signed for Barcelona in the 2017/18 season for an initial fee of €105 million, with add-ons that potentially could have brought the fee up to €145 million. The former Borussia Dortmund forward was seen as a replacement for the departing Neymar.

To force a move, Dembele went on a strike. Ultimately, the transfer went through.

But his first season did not go as planned. Since he went on strike, he missed training sessions that would have helped his fitness.

Dembele did not make his first start until September of 2017 against Getafe. He lasted less than half an hour when he was forced off with a hamstring injury. The injury left him out for four months.

When he returned, Barcelona manager, Ernesto Valverde, employed a cautious approach with the then 20-year old. He would utilize him mostly as a substitute, giving him a start here and there to try to get him back to match fitness.

Dembele arrived with much fanfare but his debut season was a mixed bag.

The off-season only led to more doubts as even though he was part of the French side that won the World Cup, he was used sparingly by Didier Deschamps.

Then, in a surprise move, Barcelona signed Malcom from Bordeaux. Many wondered if Malcom, who is a similar player to Dembele,  was signed as an eventual replacement.  There were even rumors that Arsenal were interested in the Frenchman.

However, much to the delight of Barcelona, the player stayed and has repaid the confidence shown to him by the manager.

He started off the season by scoring an absolute belter in the Spanish Super Cup against Sevilla that gave Barcelona the win.

His latest goal, in the Champions League against PSV Eindhoven, was another classic spinning away from two PSV players before placing one to the right of the keeper.

He seems to be clicking on all fronts. In the league, Dembele has found the back of the net on three occasions. It’s the same number of goals he had in all of last season. He’s now scored in four consecutive games for Barcelona. Three straight in the league and one in Champions League.

It’s still early in the season but Dembele already looks like a different player. The injuries last season definitely played a role in his lack of confidence. It takes a while for players to embed themselves in the Barcelona system and the lack of playing time did him no favors.

Having recovered from the injury and winning the World Cup with France, he seems to have regained that confidence and his performances early on are proof of that.

There are areas where he needs to improve, specifically on defense. He has a propensity not to track back, though he’s getting better, and to lose balls in inopportune areas. That was evident against PSV where some of their counter-attacks were a result of Dembele losing the ball in the final third.

But Barcelona have won every game they’ve played in so far and Dembele has played a significant part in that. If he can improve on the defensive side of his game, what Barcelona paid for him is going to be an afterthought.