Sky Sports has recently offered an update on the future of Barcelona winger Ousmane Dembele. It has been revealed that the French winger has decided to stay with the Catalan club until his contract runs out at the end of this campaign.
Dembele’s Injury-Plagued Season At The Nou Camp
Dembele has struggled to give a good account of himself in Spanish football after missing a significant chunk of this campaign due to multiple injuries. The French attacker has scored one goal and grabbed two assists in 11 appearances for Barca this season in multiple competitions.
The 24-year-old has done well to average 2.8 shots, 1.7 key passes, 1.8 crosses and 2.3 dribbles per game in La Liga. He has even taken care of the ball when linking up play with others around him in the final third, as evidenced by his pass completion rate of 85.1% in the Spanish top-flight (stats via whoscored).
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What Should Be Xavi’s Play With Regards To Dembele?
Dembele has got electric pace which he can use to get to the byline and create some decent opportunities for his teammates inside the opposition penalty box. He has got the eye to play a decisive pass in the final third and can score some important goals for his team when he is playing with confidence on the pitch. The Frenchman is proficient at getting a few shots in on-target and remains a decent finisher in front of the opponent’s goal.
However, frequent injuries have derailed Dembele’s progress at Barcelona. Furthermore, he has fallen out of favour at the Catalan club and is not a first-choice wide player in Xavi‘s starting XI despite being one of the highest earners at the Nou Camp.
With less than six months remaining in his Barca contract, it would have been a good move for both parties if the player decided to leave in the January transfer window. However, Dembele ended up staying, so Xavi would now have to either rely on him to turn things around for the better or freeze him out of his match-day squad in the remainder of this campaign.
