What would Neymar’s return mean for Barcelona’s second-most expensive signing?

Neymar’s departure saw Barcelona make a flurry of huge signings

After Neymar joined Paris Saint-Germain in a record-breaking €222 million deal in 2017, Barcelona went into panic mode. Ousmane Dembélé was brought in from Borussia Dortmund, while Philippe Coutinho joined in the January transfer window.

While Coutinho’s fate is sealed regardless of Neymar’s return, a signing of this magnitude has the potential to affect the career of Dembélé. In fact, there are two possibilities for Dembélé in case Neymar rejoins Barça.

When Dembélé was initially signed, he played on the right flank before getting injured. At Dortmund, Thomas Tuchel also used him as a right winger. But since he had the versatility to adapt to his right foot, Ernesto Valverde moved him to the left flank.

This was a good decision then because Dembélé would never have the ability to compete with Lionel Messi for minutes. But everything got muddled when Barça signed Philippe Coutinho from Liverpool in January.

The Brazilian superstar was anointed as the official replacement for Neymar in the first-team, and he adapted quite well to the Barça style of play. As a result, Dembélé had to drop to the bench. The young Frenchman was also unfit for the majority of the season.

But everything changed after the World Cup ended. Dembélé and Coutinho reversed roles, and the Frenchman looked all set to enjoy a breakout season. On the other hand, Coutinho looked short on confidence and failed to replicate his form from the previous season.

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If not for his niggling injury issues, Dembélé would probably have made the left winger spot in the first-team his own with his trickery and pace. But Barça ended the season with an injury-prone youngster lacking match sharpness, and an out-of-form superstar on the left wing.

If Neymar is signed, it will mean that Dembélé will no longer find opportunities as a winger unless either Messi or Neymar move into the centre-forward spot. This naturally leads to the conclusion that Dembélé will need to act as understudy to Messi on the right flank, as was intended.

The France international will find his playing time significantly reduced, but would have a future at Barça as the successor to Lionel Messi. This can put the youngster under a lot of pressure, but he has the ability to handle that pressure and emerge as a real superstar.

The other possibility is more grim for Dembélé. Neymar’s return will lead to the reunion of MSN, a trio which will be hard for Valverde to resist playing for every single minute. It will mean that the 22-year old speedster will need to be shipped off.

Bayern Munich are interested in signing Ousmane Dembélé. The Bavarians are targeting Leroy Sané, but consider Dembélé as a top alternative. They competed with Barça for his signature, and will go after him again if they fail to sign Sané.

Both possibilities look equally likely, although the former is more desirable than the latter. Dembélé is a very talented player, and his departure would probably result in a major loss for Barcelona.