Who can Barca realistically target to replace injury-prone Dembele?

Robin Bairner

4 Nov 2021 16:53 GMT
4 min read

Nicolas Pepe: Can Arsenal’s record-signing turn it around at the Emirates? — © ProShots

Barcelona confirmed on Thursday that Ousmane Dembele has suffered yet another injury that will keep him pinned to the sidelines.

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Dembele has troubled the club’s medics far more than he has tested opposing defences since he arrived in 2017.

Indeed, he only played his first competitive football of the season on Tuesday, featuring for 25 minutes of a 1-0 win over Dynamo Kyiv.

Barcelona have confirmed, however, that Dembele faces another spell on the sidelines, though they have not stipulated how long it may be.

What cannot be escaped, though, is that Dembele has proven to be a liability physically for Barca.

He has missed 98 matches because of injury issues – nearly half of all fixtures since he joined the club.

Of course, these problems have had a knock-on effect on his usefulness to the team, for which he has scored 30 goals and laid on 21 in 119 outings.

Should Barcelona keep or sell Ousmane Dembele this summer? — © ProShots

Out of contract at the end of the season, the possibility of replacing Dembele is one that must be given serious consideration. But who is out there that might be signed?

First, let’s make an important assumption. Given Barcelona’s financial issues, they will not be able to sign a player for a fee, so will instead have to check out free transfers or the loan market.

Using SciSports’ database of players, which includes a matrix that calculates their current and future skill levels, it is possible to whittle down Barca’s options.

Looking for players to have a potential of over 100 (for comparison Dembele’s current skill level is 112), who play on the wing and perform a similar role to the France international, there are plenty of available options.

But when taking into account those who Barca might reasonably sign, there are far fewer.

Barcelona’s options

Firstly, looking at players out of contract in 2022, the most eye-catching are Lorenzo Insigne of Napoli and Angel Di Maria of Paris Saint-Germain.

Players who have a couple of years on their contract left to run and might, therefore, be available for purchase include Bayern Munich’s Kingsley Coman and Manchester City duo Raheem Sterling and Riyad Mahrez, but perhaps Justin Kluivert, on loan at Nice from Roma, is a more realistic option for now.

When the search is opened up to players with longer deals, realistically Barcelona will only be able to consider those out of favour with their clubs, unless they were able to structure a long-term loan deal with payment due at its conclusion.

Arsenal’s Nicolas Pepe could be an option on a traditional loan, a move that would surely suit both the player and the Premier League club, while a more ambitious deal might see Barcelona chase a player such as Ajax winger Antony, who has impressed so much in the Champions League this season.

If Barca want to have a longer-term view, SciSports suggests options such as Alexander Prass, a 20-year-old who plays with Sturm Graz, 19-year-old Octavian Popescu of Steaua and Jakub Kaminski, 18, of Lech Poznan.

Of course, Dembele could be tied to a new deal, though the risks are clear for Barcelona given his injury history.