Ousmane Dembélé, who was going to say it just three months ago, left the Camp Nou cheered this Sunday. In the 91st minute, Xavi decided to replace him with Nico. And not just to save time. Also so that the fans rewarded a new great match by the Frenchman against Sevilla with an impressive ovation. When Sánchez Martínez signaled the end of the game, Xavi also hugged the Frenchman and sent him to the locker room.
The Xavi-Dembélé feeling is obvious. And the coach’s message with the change is thunderous. The Terrassa coach was trying to point out to him, he has already said it in public too, that he will not be anywhere like he is at Barça. For the benefits of the city, which he already knows well five years later. But also for the style. Xavi’s obsession with opening up the pitch with wingers comes in handy for Ousmane, who is aware that Barça could be his best showcase for going to the World Cup and that, above all, he has matured as a player in the last year and a half. His decision-making and his way of understanding the game is beginning to approach that of the unbalanced player that Barça expected when he signed him in 2017 for a millionaire from Dortmund.
The Dembélé case is heading towards an unexpected and surprising turnaround after the January crisis, when Barça, irate after the comings and goings of the player’s agent, Moussa Sissoko, urged him to leave and even left him out of the squad for the Cup round of 16 match against Athletic. Days later, Dembélé also did not enter the list to travel to Vitoria due to indisposition. The rupture, in those days, seemed definitive. Xavi, however, got Laporta and Alemany to give their arm to twist and, to save the stability of the locker room, he returned it to the dynamics of the first team. Dembélé has thanked him with a spectacular performance. He is already the second highest assistant in LaLiga with ten, although his average (0.77) is significantly higher than that of Benzema.
Despite the fact that nobody trusts Sissoko, a door has been opened for the renewal of Dembélé. From the winger’s communication department, a call from the Barça club was leaked (which no one has officially admitted) to sit down at a table again and pick up the talks that broke off abruptly and badly in January. Now AS has been able to confirm that Mateu Alemany, Barça’s director of football, is in Marrakech (where he was captured upon arrival at the airport) to resume the negotiation. Dembélé filters that he feels happy these days at Barça and that Xavi and his assistants are getting the best out of him as a footballer. The Frenchman is also happy with the ecosystem that has been generated around the team. It is only necessary to see how Pedri ‘placó’ when the Canarian invented the goal that knocked down Sevilla. Or his involvement even when the game heats up. The Frenchman saw a yellow card for protesting an action on the wing. Also a sign of concentration and being involved in the game.
Barça’s nobles, especially Mateu Alemany and Jordi Cruyff, who for months suspected that Dembélé had a signed contract with PSG, continue to be skeptical of the situation. But Xavi pushes. He loves Dembélé’s football, he has already given him his place in the team and thinks of him as a fundamental part of Barça 2022-23. With Ferran, Dembélé and Ansu or Aubameyang at the top, he believes that he would have a powerful enough attack to think of big things. The next few weeks will be decisive for Dembélé’s future.