Ousmane Dembele has quickly become one of EuropeÂ’s hottest prospects following his
breakthrough season in Ligue 1
The Rennes forward has burst onto the scene and has attracted the
interest of some the worldÂ’s biggest clubs.
NAME: Ousmane Dembele
CLUB: Rennes
AGE: 18
NATIONALITY: French
POSITION: Forward
HE'S A BIT LIKE: Cristiano Ronaldo
Who is he?
Dembele made his first-team debut in November 2015 and has been at the Rennes academy since
the age of 13
Despite some impressive performances at youth and reserve level, Rennes refused to
introduce the 18-year-old to the first team
A contract dispute also saw Dembele near the exit door
The youngster refused to sign a professional
contract and claim that the club had lost all faith in him
However, a resolution was found and
Dembele has gone from strength-to-strength
He made an instant impact on his debut against Bordeaux scoring after just 30 minutes latching on
to a low cross from Paul-Georges Ntep to open the scoring
He has since gone to score 10 goals in
just 19 appearances in the league including a hat-trick against fierce rivals Nantes.
Style of Play
The French youngster is a pacy, direct wide player who is capable of operating on either wing or as
the striker
An injury to Ntep has meant Rennes have turned to Dembele to fill the void on their left-
hand side
As well as contributing 10 goals this season, the most of any teenagers in Europe's top
five leagues, he has also added five assists for his team-mates this season
However, Dembele has
identified that his passing is a potential area for improvement
"I need to be more efficient because sometimes in situations I try to dribble when I should be
passing
I lose the ball and get an earful from the others!" the 18-year-old admitted
"But I'm
working on that; my team play needs improving."
Dembele is also comfortable on either foot which means he is extremely versatile and able to keep
defenders guessing when deployed in a number ten role
The Frenchman's best attribute is his
dribbling ability
He has completed 66 out of his 94 take-ons this season; a success rate of 70%
Only
Hatem Ben Arfa and Sofiane Boufal have completed more
Moment of the season
His hat-trick against rivals Nantes will go down as the youngster's moment of the season
Dembele
opened the scoring after just 60 seconds at Roazhon Park; capitalising on a defensive mishap to
punish the opposition from the outset
The forward doubled his tally midway through the first half
when he floated a free-kick past goalkeeper Remy Riou in the Nantes goal
The 18-year-old
completed his hat-trick on the stroke of half-time turning his opposite defender too easily and
finishing low to the left
He became the youngest player to score a Ligue 1 hat-trick since Jeremy
Menez in 2005
They Say...
“I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that he can win the Ballon d’Or,” former France
international and now presidential advisor Mikael Silvestre told France Football back in January
Silvestre also likened Dembele to both Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney and said he showed
similar characteristics to Ronaldo when he was at the same age
Yannich Menu, a coach at Rennes, also praised the youngster
“He came here relatively early and he
already had fluidity to his game, great dribbling and technical qualities
We didnÂ’t know if he was
right or left footed!” said the coach
He Says...
The forward is extremely determined
"I always play to try to please the crowd, but now I need to
focus on hard work," he said in an interview
"What I'm doing is good but if I want to keep it up, I
can't afford to let my efforts drop.”
Dembele also expressed his love for Barcelona and his hopes of donning the blue and red shirt in the
future
"My dream is to play for Barcelona
The Liga is a tough league but I'm inspired by players like
Neymar and Messi
You have to work very hard to reproduce what they do, especially Neymar
I also
like the Bundesliga they like attacking, don't ask questions and like playing football."
What nextÂ…
Dembele's signature has quickly become one of the most sought after in all of Europe following his
breakout season
Not even Anthony Martial's rise to fame was as explosive as Dembele who has
attracted the attention of all of Europe's biggest clubs
Both Monaco and Paris St Germain have both expressed an interest in bringing one of the country's
hottest prospects to their respective clubs
PSG will have the upper hand in the race for his signature
and could offer the youngster first-team football should Zlatan Ibrahimovic depart the French
capital
They will also feel they have the advantage after winning the title so convincingly this season
as well as remaining in the running for the Champions League
Clubs in the Premier League has also expressed an interest in bringing Dembele across the water
Liverpool have reportedly shown an interest but are unlikely to meet the club's valuation of their
starlet
Tottenham is another club keen on the youngster but it is Manchester City who are the
favourites from England to secure the signing
City could offer Dembele the chance to work with one
of the best managers in the world but must secure a top four finish to stand any chance of
competing with other clubs in the Champions League
The favourites to sign Dembele are Bayern Munich and Barcelona
Premature reports emerged this
week that Bayern had secured a £27m deal to sign the forward in the summer
Dembele refused this
suggestion and stated he had not spoken to any club
He would join a plethora of attacking talent
and link up with countryman Kingsley Coman if he completed a move to Bavaria
Reports suggest that Barcelona have sent scouts to watch the winger in action with a view to signing
him in the summer
He could see first-team opportunities limited due to the form of Messi, Neymar
and Luis Suarez but a move to his dream club could be too hard to resist
Rennes are hopeful of securing a large transfer fee for academy graduate who will see his transfer
value inflate depending on his inclusion in France's Euro 2016 squad
There have been calls for Didier
Deschamps to include the youngster his 23-man squad following his form in the league and a seat on
the plane will no doubt boost the transfer fee in any potential deal
Only time will tell if Dembele can push on to live up to expectations and who knows, maybe Silvestre
will be right and the youngster will challenge for the Balon d'Or in the future
Whatever happens, the
future is bright for Dembele and French national football
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Source : DSG
Source: DSG