He surely still doesn’t know if he shoots better with the right foot than the left foot but we surely still don’t know in which box to categorize him. Even if his talent remains undeniable, Ousmane Dembélé is part of this caste of players capable of the best as well as the worst from one week to another. Endowed with a sense of percussion and an above-average elimination capacity, the native of Vernon is nonetheless an intelligent player, even if he can still improve in his choices at the approach of opposing goals. For all these reasons, we can easily understand what motivated the Parisian leaders to go get him from FC Barcelona for the modest sum of 50 million euros. Now, despite some of its thorns that can make more than one cringe, one has to wonder how Luis Enrique will place this rose in the middle of the Parisian bouquet.
A hand-sewn system for him but does it meet the needs of PSG?
Follower of 4-3-3 since his time at Barça, the Spanish technician was able to rely on one of the most dashing attacks in history during his distinguished stay in Catalonia: the MSN. During PSG’s first friendly matches, the Spanish technician did not deviate from his favorite system which clearly lacks solutions on the wings to be effective, as these recent outings have shown. While Kylian Mbappé’s future is still uncertain, the capital club can boast of having gotten their hands on a more than complementary counterpart to the Bondynois on the right of the attack. What could be the jackpot in the event of rehabilitation of Mbappé in the Parisian eleven during the year. Friends, the two young men also proved that they were compatible in a 4-3-3 at the last World Cup. While the former Monegasque was exempt from defensive duties on the left, Dembélé was tasked by Didier Deschamps to lend a hand to Jules Koundé on the right side.
A hybrid role that he also held in Barcelona with the former Bordeaux player still behind him, which did not prevent him from shining during the last exercise. With the Blaugrana, “Dembouz” is coming off one of his best seasons which has been punctuated by 8 goals and 9 assists in 35 games. Indispensable in the eyes of Xavi, the right winger is very comfortable on the right in a three-man attack. Confined to this role since his debut in Catalan lands, he also played in this type of offensive configuration at Borussia Dortmund. Yet his recent defensive progress could also allow him to flourish in a 4-2-3-1 like he did on his Rennes debut. From there to see Luis Enrique upset his plans and switch to this device? Nothing is less certain, even if the possibility of having a variety in the devices could clearly be useful to the 51-year-old coach.
Despite his versatility in the game systems and his defensive awakening, the question remains: does Ousmane Dembélé meet the needs of Paris? Needing a scorer, PSG has been eyeing several players for many weeks (Vlahovic, Kane, Kolo Muani or even Hojlund). Certainly, Dembélé does not come to fulfill this function. But while the capital club needs a prolific striker, and encounters many hiccups in the latter’s quest, the imminent arrival of Dembélé raises questions, all the more so in the event of a departure or prolonged shelving of Mbappe. And while his profile is the opposite of that of Lionel Messi, his arrival is clearly more akin to a market opportunity than to a real need identified for months, all the more so with the arrivals this summer of Kang-In Lee and Marco Asensio.
Is he the replacement for Lionel Messi?
While he joined Barcelona in the summer of 2017 to compensate for the departure of Neymar and team up with Lionel Messi, the roles are now reversed. Numerically at least, he comes to the capital with the idea of replacing the seven-time Ballon d’Or and forming a resounding attack line with the Brazilian (and Mbappé?). On the field, it is less certain that Dembélé will replace the new Inter Miami player. Used in a more axial role last season by Christophe Galtier, there is no doubt that the native of Rosario would have played on the right flank of the Parisian attack this season with Luis Enrique was on the bench. Even if he would have dezoned a lot, like what he was already doing under Enrique, Messi would still have spent more time on the right wing than he did all season. past.
But now, while he had an Argentinian at a stratospheric level under his command on the Camp Nou side, Luis Enrique will have an Ousmane Dembélé who is not able to offer the wonderful panoply that Messi had between 2014 and 2017 And while his past season was still disappointing, replacing Lionel Messi is never easy. It remains to be seen whether PSG really need a player like La Pulga in their system. The ideal plan for the Parisian leaders is surely to find a prolific scorer, align Ousmane Dembélé on the right and have Neymar in support of the attacker or on the left flank. For his slight corrections, Luis Enrique will do as he sees fit but he will surely have more to gain by aligning the former Santos in a more axial role than during their first Barcelona cohabitation where the latter was an almost exclusive left winger. Therefore, the 4-2-3-1 seems ideal and if everything goes well, Paris will be able to field a very attractive attack. All the more so if Kylian Mbappé is brought back to the professional group and comes to settle on the left in this system.
Arriving in the pivotal years of his career at 26, the former Rennais will see, in the near future, his athletic qualities melt into the mass and will certainly have to reinvent himself. To do this, he will need a little more responsibility and possibly pass an additional level in rigor and consistency. So many unknowns who come to question the need for such recruitment. On the other hand, his affordable price and his contribution to the system of Luis Enrique make him a fairly intelligent recruitment in the short and medium term for PSG, while Marco Asensio has been damn disappointed for the moment during friendly matches. As often, the best response will come from the field and one thing is certain: Ousmane Dembélé has all the qualities to be an essential link for PSG in the coming seasons.
