Maybe there is no footballer who has more fun than Ousmane Dembélé . But when the border between genius and ridicule is almost non-existent, one is in danger of losing grace.

There was a time when there was no way that Dembélé would be taken seriously in the locker room. Not only because he was used to falling asleep on weekdays, but because he rarely seemed to understand the instructions of the technicians or even made jokes of his teammates. "He came to live in his world, and he continues to live in his world," admit Joan Gamper from the Ciutat Esportiva. It is true that the chascarrillos abound in French in the dressing room, and that the extreme, once welcomed by Samuel Umtiti and controlled by Eric Abidal , has thanked the arrival of Antoine Griezmann . The former Atlético footballer is perhaps the one who best interprets his dances, but also his mood.

In the offices of the Camp Nou, however much President Bartomeu , unleashed, released that propaganda proclamation at the dawn of the market - "Dembélé is better than Neymar" -, the mistrust in the end never disappeared. A feeling shared also in the house. The Frenchman fulfills his third season at Barcelona, ​​and despite his bisoñez (still 22 years old), a tactical understanding of which there is hardly any trace is required.

Luis Suarez , always expressive in the complaint, never hid his anger to Dembélé on the field. Reproaches that never change the French rictus. But it was Gerard Piqué who got mad at the former Dortmund striker after he gave up and refused to run behind Capa , responsible for assisting Aduriz's goal that brought Barcelona to San Mamés. Ernesto Valverde just talked about "details." Piqué went something further. He did not name Dembélé. Perhaps it was not necessary either: "In the last minutes we have to be much more attentive. We can already put the batteries."

Dembélé arrived at the premiere in the League after showing off pre-season conditions. But his return to high competition returned him to misunderstanding. It started on the right. Luis Suarez's injury later led him to the left, with Griezmann moving to the center of the attack. And the consequences of his actions were always the same. Dembélé lost 10 balls. His passes rarely found an appropriate destination. And the night he had to act as an agitator in the absence of the injured Messi , who stole the focus was Rafinha , in whom no one ever repairs the club.

Two weeks before the end of the summer market, and now that Barcelona has gotten rid of Coutinho , assigned to Bayern, the Barça plenipotentiary president will have to decide what to do with Dembélé. The French was Barcelona's response to the escape on his day of Neymar. The Frenchman had only been in the elite for two seasons. Its market price was 250,000 euros when Rennes formalized its first professional contract. Borussia Dortmund paid 15 million euros for him, which was the amount that the Barca club would have invested if the Frenchman had not rejected the first proposal of former Barca coach, Robert Fernández . And only a year later, given the urgency to find who filled the hole left by Neymar, Bartomeu agreed to pay 105 million euros for Dembélé, in addition to agreeing another 40 on variables. The rocambolesco of soccer in a single paragraph.

In his effort to look back and complete a collection of galactic-cut cards, the president of Barcelona will have to assess the suitability of including Dembélé on the negotiating table for Neymar. It was precisely Thomas Tuchel , current PSG coach, who best knew how to exploit the physical and technical characteristics of the French in the season in which they agreed in Dortmund. Dembélé's irreverence in the open field and his disconcerting footwork made his fortune that 2015-2016 season. The striker scored 10 goals and conceded 21 assists. This did not prevent that, reached the summer, the soccer player refused to train and used the old tactics of the rebellion to finish in Barcelona.

"You may have conditions, moreover, it may be a phenomenon, but if the one outside is a cheese, it is dead," Fontanarrosa wrote in his story Memories of a right wing . In the case of Dembélé, it also applies to the left. Does not matter.

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  • Ousmane Dembélé
  • Neymar
  • Luis Suarez
  • PSG
  • Gerard Piqué
  • Ernesto Valverde
  • Coutinho
  • Borussia Dortmund
  • Antoine Griezmann
  • sports

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