Ousmane Dembele

[DarkMata]

Very bored with the negative Pulisic stuff. I don’t think Pulisic is xmas but I don’t have to tell everyone about it all day. Find some one else to pick on. Like badly cracked record just now. 

To be honest I was quite happy for Pulisic to leave, but recently for some reason I kind of what him to be given a 10 year contract extension.

 

[nonotnowjim]

Facts often are.

The fact is we put together an attacking line up with a player that wasn't good enough for Dortmund and a player that completely failed at United and people seem surprised that we weren't scoring goals like City or Liverpool.

We massively lack talent in forward roles I don't see how people can be against signings like Sterling/Neymar and Dembele.

All 3 huge upgrades on what we have.

Why do you keep talking about Pulisic on every thread? It's odd!

 

[Sconnie Blue]

Am I missing something with Dembele, his stats don't look very good at all for an attacking player?

I don't watch La Liga, so pardon my ignorance.

His creative metrics this second half of the season were great. 
 

But, that’s La liga. And it was only for 5 months. And no evidence to suggest it’ll translate to the Prem. And he’s still very injury prone. And has an attitude issue. And an ego judging by his wage demands. 
 

Personally, I’d say no. 

 

[ducavis]

Saw this numbers before, but frankly don't know where it comes from. Probably Twitter!?

Sport.es, Barcelona's mouthpiece, had an article yesterday and they say Dembele wants a salary around 11-12M per year, but Barcelona cannot afford more than 8M. If you ask me that is not an absurd request by any means.

I agree there is a risk with him, I absolutely give you that, but and injury free Dembele, with the right mindset, under the guidance of a manager he trusts, Dembele is a monster of a winger, a complete freak. I would take him in a heartbeat.

Big question is he was on €250k/w, was offered €18m/yr at the beginning of the season which he rejected, and was demanding €20m. Barca have suddenly dropped their offer to €8m, and he is now demanding €11m. Something doesn’t add up, and now he is a free agent teams aren’t exactly queuing up to sign him. He is a red flag for me.

Am I missing something with Dembele, his stats don't look very good at all for an attacking player?

I don't watch La Liga, so pardon my ignorance.

Fans are conveniently ignoring his prior stats which is big average considering the team he was playing for, and focusing on his last season stats. Players tend to outperform their normal stats when angling for a move/new contract (Willian’s last season with us is a prime example). They also keep pointing out that Tuchel knows/trusts him when he only managed him for 1 season. The fact he has no suitors when he is this “top” player is scary.

 

[TheCeleryKing]

Why do you keep talking about Pulisic on every thread? It's odd!

Agreed. Pulisic is not a bad player at all. I mean he has had a lot of injuries and we can sign a better player for sure. But Captain America is a good kid. He is loyal to the club too. I have never had a problem with him. A good squad player. My guess is some folks really do not like americans.

 

[Scott Harris]

Am I missing something with Dembele, his stats don't look very good at all for an attacking player?

I don't watch La Liga, so pardon my ignorance.

Pros - Decent cross and quick.

Cons - Awful finisher, weak, dribbling style similar to Pulisic which leaves him open to getting bullied in the Premier League. Needs space which he won't get in the Premier League. History of injuries and a poor attitude. Inconsistent decision making.

The cons far outweigh the pros for me.

 

[Blue2]

Facts often are.

The fact is we put together an attacking line up with a player that wasn't good enough for Dortmund and a player that completely failed at United and people seem surprised that we weren't scoring goals like City or Liverpool.

We massively lack talent in forward roles I don't see how people can be against signings like Sterling/Neymar and Dembele.

All 3 huge upgrades on what we have.

I don't think that anyone really disagrees with the fact that our offensive players bar Mount(who goal/assist stats aside was inconsistent too) underperformed this season and I agree that Sterling, Neymar and Dembele are individually probably better than all of our offensive players right now, but like you said yourself, we are or were with Marina in control a financially badly run club based on our wage structure + transfer activity purchase wise and most fans seem to realize this too.

All three players would probably commit exorbitant fees and wages and we have players on our books who are clearly overpaid based on the performances they offer, plus if new players come in who outearn probably the whole squad (minus maybe Kanté), it could be a toxic influence in the dressing room, so with how frequent players flop here it should be understandable why many fans are skeptical about highpriced transfers.

I personally would prefer if we say no to every player who we have to overpay for and just do economically reasonable transfers.

 

[AlwaysRight]

Pros - Decent cross and quick.

Cons - Awful finisher, weak, dribbling style similar to Pulisic which leaves him open to getting bullied in the Premier League. Needs space which he won't get in the Premier League. History of injuries and a poor attitude. Inconsistent decision making.

The cons far outweigh the pros for me.

Yeah ultimately I'm not keen on him at all from anything I've seen. He looks skillful in youtube videos, but lacking in end product and we have players like that already, couple that with his big ego/bad attitude then I feel it should be a no for us. 

Sterling and Rafinha would be perfect IMO, both are an upgrade on what we currently have in wide forward positions. 

 

[Term_X]

Agreed. Pulisic is not a bad player at all. I mean he has had a lot of injuries and we can sign a better player for sure. But Captain America is a good kid. He is loyal to the club too. I have never had a problem with him. A good squad player. My guess is some folks really do not like americans.

“Not bad”, “squad player”, this guy is wearing the number 10 shirt for Chelsea ffs  come on now.

Aside from his dad aiming digs at the club via twitter and then deleting them, I don’t see any non-footballing reasons to dislike him, the extra level to the criticism has risen from the lack of it, frustration.. the idea that this is the level we are accepting etc. Pulisic went under the radar for poor performances prior to now, so he was actually blessed with the benefit of the doubt from the fans for quite a while. 

 

[HazardousChoice]

Why do you keep talking about Pulisic on every thread? It's odd!

Only in threads were we're linked with a new winger.

What's odd is so many people being skeptical or unenthusiastic about all  the high quality wingers we're linked with like Dembele/Sterling/Raphina/Neymar etc when we currently have an injury prone 4 goal a season championship standard player that was only signed solely due to his nationality and off the field value.

We're not in a position to be picky,  Pulisic is the worst Winger we have and we're desperate for an upgrade.  The players we're linked with are all big upgrades and I can't imagine the people who aren't convinced by them genuinely want us to go into another season with the Mark Madsen of soccer chasing his 8th consecutive poor season.

 

[WhiteWall]

Very bored with the negative Pulisic stuff. I don’t think Pulisic is xmas but I don’t have to tell everyone about it all day. Find some one else to pick on. Like badly cracked record just now. 

After all there are plenty of others to choose from currently 

 

[WhiteWall]

Big question is he was on €250k/w, was offered €18m/yr at the beginning of the season which he rejected, and was demanding €20m. Barca have suddenly dropped their offer to €8m, and he is now demanding €11m. Something doesn’t add up, and now he is a free agent teams aren’t exactly queuing up to sign him. He is a red flag for me.

Fans are conveniently ignoring his prior stats which is big average considering the team he was playing for, and focusing on his last season stats. Players tend to outperform their normal stats when angling for a move/new contract (Willian’s last season with us is a prime example). They also keep pointing out that Tuchel knows/trusts him when he only managed him for 1 season. The fact he has no suitors when he is this “top” player is scary.

Great Post. Agree with both points.

 

[JM7]

Sport in Spain reporting that Ousmane Dembele will sign a new contract at Barcelona until 2024 at a 40% wage reduction after reaching a verbal agreement. As previously reported, Barcelona want Dembele and Raphinha.
 

Looks like this one is also over. 

 

[axman2526]

Sport in Spain reporting that Ousmane Dembele will sign a new contract at Barcelona until 2024 at a 40% wage reduction after reaching a verbal agreement. As previously reported, Barcelona want Dembele and Raphinha.
 

Looks like this one is also over. 

Good.

 

[nonotnowjim]

We can argue about productivity, speed, perceived class or skill all day....but rule 1 about any player we buy, is that they must want to fight for the shirt. If Dembele prefers to stay at Barca and is not fully committed to CFC, then frankly it is a bullet dodged. He could be the best player in the world (he isnt), but without the true desire to want to be here, then it accounts for nothing.

 

[WhiteWall]

Sport in Spain reporting that Ousmane Dembele will sign a new contract at Barcelona until 2024 at a 40% wage reduction after reaching a verbal agreement. As previously reported, Barcelona want Dembele and Raphinha.
 

Looks like this one is also over. 

It's an indication of where we are pitching salary wise, if he can climb down, look even more of a tw@t, and virtually halve his salary.

All these rumours about deals being agreed between clubs is pointless if the players arent interested in the packages

 

[OhForAGreavsie]

It's an indication of where we are pitching salary wise, if he can climb down, look even more of a tw@t, and virtually halve his salary.

All these rumours about deals being agreed between clubs is pointless if the players arent interested in the packages

Assuming this gets wrapped up then I think Dembele looks pretty smart. People's actions should be judged against the goal they are trying to achieve.

For a long time it seemed clear that what Dembele wanted was to extract the best possible deal from Barca and extend. He was never going to make any decision until he believed that he had seen the best offer Barcelona would make and he played his hand to the end in pursuit of that aim. It is very possible that we made him a better offer than Barca did but getting the best financial offer whoever it came from was not the player's aim. He just wanted to get the best offer from his current club. He's got what he wanted and that equals smart.

The one thing to guard against is pissing off other club's by stringing them along. That problem is dead easy to avoid though and anyone but the most imbecilic agent could overcome it. You just make it clear to any club you negotiate with that the player's priority is to stay with Barca if they make him an acceptable offer but that he is willing to listen to their proposals if they have any. Then it's in the pursuing club's hands to make a pitch or not.

 

[ozboy]

I guess Dembele and raphina are happy competing for one spot, or more likely raphina will end up at wing back. 

 

[TheCeleryKing]

I guess Dembele and raphina are happy competing for one spot, or more likely raphina will end up at wing back. 

But? But, but where will Alonso be playing then?

And will Barcelona be able to cover everybody's wages?

 

[Ballack & Blu]

Just signed a new contract at Barca, don't try and tell me the pathetic Media know anything, why would he sign for less money than he'd get at say us???