He is world champion, but has been wandering between genius and madness for years. Now Barcelona star Dembélé is free – and ready for a return to the Bundesliga?
Brilliant or absurd? Second in the Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund should consider bringing French world champion Ousmane Dembélé back to the Bundesliga from FC Barcelona. At least that’s what the Portuguese journalist Pedro Almeida reported last week.
Accordingly, the 24-year-old Dembélé could become part of a larger squad reorganization after BVB is currently experiencing a disappointing season and not only t-online columnist Stefan Effenberg called for consequences.
Dembélé already played for BVB in 2016/17 and had an outstanding season back then. In 50 competitive games, he scored ten times and prepared 22 more goals – but then went on strike to Barcelona when he found out that the Catalans were interested.
After Dembélé stayed away from training, Dortmund sold the then 19-year-old to Spain for a record sum of around 140 million euros. Despite his outstanding talent at Barcelona, Dembélé was never really happy.
On the one hand he suffered from injuries again and again, on the other hand he fell out of favor several times. He was late, made questionable excuses, almost got into a fight with the coach, and was suspended on one occasion or another.
His contract with Barcelona is now up. Barca president Joan Laporta just said: “Dembele knows our offer. We hope he will reconsider it at the end of the season.” So far, however, it doesn’t look like he’s staying. And even an alleged interest from Chelsea, Paris St. Germain or FC Bayern has not yet led to a commitment.
Is this the big chance for Dortmund if the club even wants to after the bad story of 2017?
Should Borussia Dortmund also try to get Ousmane Dembélé back as part of the squad reorganization?
Florian Wichert
Deputy Editor in Chief
Pro
Yes, Dortmund have to take that risk
Out of the cup, out of the Champions League, out of the Europa League, without a chance in the championship fight: BVB has to change a few things in order to be able to attack again – restructure the squad, take risks, break with old principles, make courageous decisions.
This includes, for example, considering the sale of Mats Hummels or Marco Reus, getting a new coach – and certainly working towards a return from Ousmane Dembélé.
Of course, he has a difficult character, a notorious latecomer who certainly demands a borderline high salary. But: He is also one of the most brilliant players who have ever played for Dortmund. And he’s free.
Dembélé knows: At the age of 24, it is now decided what will become of his career. He needs good leadership, match practice and confidence. Dortmund, on the other hand, needs outstanding footballing quality, brilliant dribbling, goals and maybe a title.
Dembélé back to Dortmund – that’s a brilliant coup. And in the unlikely event that that doesn’t work, BVB can simply sell it again. Last time it brought him 140 million euros.
Robert Hiersmann
Head of Football and Sports
Against
No, because his behavior still has an impact today
Ousmane Dembélé is one of the footballers that Borussia Dortmund must not sign under any circumstances. Why? For example, because of the unspeakable drama when he left BVB in 2017. At that time, despite his four-year contract, he went on a training strike to force his early move to FC Barcelona. In the meantime he had even disappeared completely. This action alone shows how characterless he is. No club in the world needs a player like that.
From a sporting point of view, his commitment is not worth it either. Dembélé has never become the undisputed starter at Barcelona. He has scored 32 goals in his 134 appearances for the club. The quota is okay, but nothing extraordinary for a footballer who has cost 140 million euros. He’s also extremely injury prone. During his time in Spain he missed 102 games. In total, he has been injured 15 times in this period.
Back then, with his embarrassing farewell to Dortmund, he not only severely disappointed those responsible at the club, but above all aroused the anger of BVB fans. One thing is certain: this behavior still has an effect on the followers today. And for that reason alone he is out of the question for Borussia.
Who is right?
In “Duel of the Week”, Florian Wichert (Deputy Editor-in-Chief at t-online) and Robert Hiersemann (Head of Soccer and Sport) comment on current soccer topics on a weekly basis. Watch the format in the video above or from 9 p.m. on free TV as part of “Bundesliga Analysis” on Sport 1.
