Barcelona: Ousmane Dembele nears his return to the team
After suffering another injury setback to begin his Barcelona career, French forward Ousmane Dembele is set to make his return to the pitch.
Ousmane Dembele has not managed to make his time at the Camp Nou memorable yet due to his back-to-back injuries, forcing the player to watch the club he signed a mega-million deal with from the stands.
However, the player is recovering quickly from his injury he picked up in January, as Barca will be betting on his services for the Champions League match against Chelsea.
Here we review the £96.8 million man’s evolution over the months at Barcelona.
Dembele’s evolution
The former Borussia Dortmund starlet arrived at the Catalan club with ambition and drive but his hopes to write history with his new team was quickly put on hold after suffering an injury back in September.
Most players have fond memories of their debuts with Barcelona but that was not the case for Dembele. In his first ever La Liga debut, which was against Getafe, the youngster limped off the field in the first half after damaging his hamstring.
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Fans began the countdown, hopelessly waiting for their new signing to get back on the pitch, but the wait was very long.
After waiting 110 days, the French footballer finally made his return to the team and came on as a substitute in Barcelona’s Copa del Rey battle against Celta Vigo.
However, his much-awaited return was short-lived, after Dembele picked up yet another hamstring injury, keeping him sidelined for several weeks.
Barcelona confirmed that the Frenchman would miss out on their upcoming La Liga and Copa del Rey matches but should be fit in time for their highly anticipated clash against Chelsea in the Champions League.
And the Catalans were spot on with their predictions. Dembele has already begun training with Lionel Messi and Co. and will most likely be back in action in the following week.
"“He is already training with the team. We think he’ll be back soon. If not this week, we expect him to be back next week,” Ernesto Valverde said ahead of Barca’s second leg against Valencia."
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Overall, Dembele’s return will help with the depth at forward. If Lionel Messi or Luis Suarez need to rest, they have an option to go to if necessary. Hopefully, Dembele gets a full run with the team instead of being sidelined due to injury.