With fresh reports that Ousmane Dembélé has irked the Barcelona hierarchy by going off-grid and missing a training session, spelling more troubles for the Frenchman to find a footing at the Nou Camp, now could be the time for Manchester United fans to receive the marquee signing they were clamouring for all last summer.
Once cited as perhaps the most-exciting young ambipedalled player on the continent, the right-wing conundrum for United manager Jose Mourinho could finally be solved by bringing the 21-year-old to Old Trafford, if the Red Devils would be willing to cough up the cash.
The weight of Dembélé's gargantuan transfer fee Barcelona paid to bring him to Spain from Borussia Dortmund in 2017 seems to have rested heavily on the young winger’s shoulders, with an inaugural season cruelly interrupted by injury.
Seemingly looking for a way out of the Barca, setting his sights on a club of Manchester United’s prestige may be a sensible route,, with the added incentive of having the chance to hook up with a compatriot enjoying his own resurgence; Anthony Martial, arguably Manchester United’s most important player as the season has progressed.
Martial, of course, was dropped in favour of Dembélé by Didier Deschamps to travel on the plane to Russia for France’s campaign in the recent World Cup.
Dembélé has also only finished just one La Liga game this season, and has been dropped for the last two league fixtures, including the 5-1 drubbing of Real Madrid in El Clásico. Most notably, the winger has not moved from the bench in two of Barca’s four Champions League matches so far, even with Lionel Messi not been able to feature through injury.
Over in North-West England, the return of Romelu Lukaku for this weekend’s Manchester Derby - as confirmed by Jose Mourinho in his pre-match press conference - has in fact made a substantial proportion of United fans more than a little anxious, with supporters being treated in recent weeks to a more fluid, dynamic, enthralling attacking style in the big Belgian’s absence.
Playing either Marcus Rashford or even trying to milk the best out of mercurial Chilean chief Alexis Sanchez, as a spearhead (like was deployed in their success against Juventus) with the potential for the two speedy Frenchmen either side, may just help continue United’s revitalisation if the club could in fact pull off the coup in January.
That's his weak foot!
(📹 @btsportfootball)
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