Ousmane Dembele
According to Football.London, Arsenal have been notified about the availability of Ousmane Dembele in the January transfer window. The Gunners have had a long-standing interest in the winger and could be open to the idea of bringing him in when the transfer window reopens.
Ousmane Dembele is a 23-year-old French winger who plays for FC Barcelona. The lanky winger started his youth career at Madeleine Evreux in 2004 and moved to Rennes’ youth team in 2010.
He spent 5 years in the youth teams and made his first start for Rennes II in 2014. Finally, in 2015, he broke into the first-team at Stade Rennais. He made 29 appearances that season, scored 12 goals and made 5 assists (source – Transfermarkt).
Borussia Dortmund signed him in 2016 and he exploded onto the scene. His pace, trickery and ambipedal nature were there for everyone to see. He played 50 games for the German outfit that season and contributed to 32 goals (10 goals + 22 assists).
The following season, he forced a move to Barcelona for a gargantuan transfer fee. It has not gone to plan since then. Injuries have plagued him and that has restricted him to just 74 appearances in three seasons. He has missed a total of 80 games for the club in that duration (source – Transfermarkt).
Dembele has featured 21 times for his country and won the FIFA World Cup in 2018.
Arsenal have a good number of players who can play on the wing. The likes of Aubameyang, Nicolas Pepe and Willian are the first choices. Gabriel Martinelli, Bukayo Saka, Reiss Nelson and Ainsley Maitland-Niles are also available to chip in as backups.
Above all, Arsenal should be concerned about Dembele’s constant injuries and disciplinary problems. The forward has missed large periods of past few seasons with long-term injuries. He is also not the most punctual player either, with him having instances of coming in late for training at Barcelona.
With Mikel Arteta looking to build a good team, it does not look like he requires someone like Ousmane Dembele. They are already well-stocked with good wingers and adding another one to that is plain wasteful. Add to that the accompanying issues and the transfer doesn’t seem feasible.
Mikel Arteta clearly does not require Ousmane Dembele even if Arsenal have a chance to sign him in January. The club are better off without him and should not commit their resources bringing him to the club.
