A hard blow to take. The news, revealed by us, of Ousmane Dembélé’s departure for Paris Saint-Germain hurt Catalan hearts, and more particularly that of Xavi, the Blaugrana coach. It must be said that the former midfielder has always had a special affection for the 26-year-old French winger. From his induction on the bench, he made it known that he intended to rely on the dribbler, whose percussion qualities were sorely lacking in the offensive sector.
Xavi placed his trust in Dembélé at a time when most people did not believe in him. So, when the French told him of his upcoming departure, the Spanish technician took the hit. The newspaper Sport also explains that a few days before, Dembélé would have expressed his motivation to Xavi, as for the coming season with Barça. Before finally changing his mind, faced with the proposal of PSG.
The Neymar example
According to our information, Dembélé knew before the friendly match against Real Madrid that he was going to join PSG, and he agreed to play at the request of his coach, who still hoped to change his mind. He would also have used the example of Neymar to try to convince him. In 2017, it was already during a pre-season tour in the United States that the Brazilian had given in to the Parisian sirens.
But Xavi reminded Dembélé that Neymar had done everything to return to Catalonia two years later, in 2019. The Frenchman must remember this well, since Barça had then tried to include him in a deal to convince PSG… Despite Xavi’s arguments, Dembélé remained adamant. Like Neymar in 2017.
