‘Phenomenal’ Ousmane Dembele has finally made a ‘mental breakthrough’ at PSG – but enigmatic Barcelona flop must now prove he deserves permanent spot among world’s elite

Ousmane Dembele form GFX

Ousmane Dembele may well go down as the worst signing in Barcelona’s history. He was brought in from Borussia Dortmund to replace Neymar in a blockbuster €135 million (£112m/$139m) deal back in the summer of 2017, but didn’t come close to emulating the Brazilian, as that price tag proved to be a huge weight around his neck.

After six underwhelming seasons that saw Dembele score just 24 La Liga goals and miss over 100 games through injury, Barca cut their losses on the Frenchman when selling him to Paris Saint-Germain for just €50m (£42m/$51m). It was an embarrassing moment for the Spanish giants, but Dembele wasn’t missed in the slightest.

Barca were better off without the problem child, and it was no surprise when he didn’t hit the ground running at Parc des Princes. Dembele did finish his debut season at PSG strongly under Luis Enrique, but still only found the net six times in 41 appearances in all competitions, with the Rennes academy graduate admitting to Le Parisien that Ligue 1 had become “much stronger than when I left”.

Most people had written Dembele off as a supremely talented player who didn’t have the mindset to reach the very top. But something has changed in the 27-year-old this season; Dembele is finally proving he can be a consistent difference-maker, helping PSG re-emerge as a major force in the process, and a spot among the world’s elite awaits if he can keep it up.

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