Dembélé's limbo

Ousmane Dembélé (15-5-1977) has been teleworking much longer than his colleagues. Operated on February 11 of his tenth injury as a Barça player, a rupture of the proximal tendon of the femoral biceps of his right thigh, the Frenchman has accumulated almost a year of absence (344 days) since he arrived at the Barça club in the summer of 2017 . In fact, his six-month low forecast projects his days to 514 days without being able to work for the Barça club. An outrage for a footballer that cost 105 million euros plus 40 in variables.

Dembélé lives in a sporting limbo even in these days when the uncertainty of the calendar allows many injured stars, Luis Suárez or Hazard among them, to get excited about the possibility of reappearing before the end of the season. For French that is impossible. Dembélé's official discharge time is six months, so he will not be able to return to the playing fields officially until August.

Dembélé's credit at Barça is exhausted. The Catalan club has already warned the player that the third year was his last chance. That he should improve his performance on the field, limit his injuries and improve his habits off the field. For whatever reason, that has not happened. It's more. It has been Dembélé's worst season at Barça. The Catalan player has played 9 games out of 37 possible, 492 minutes out of 3,330 possible (14.77%). In the previous two seasons, he had played 23.7% and 46.35% of the minutes respectively. In total, Dembélé has played 75 games out of 154 possible and 4,215 minutes out of 13,860 possible. Since he has been at Barça, then, he has only played 30% of the minutes, an unsustainable amount for such an expensive incorporation.

Barça would be left without credibility if it sustains one more season with the French under the supposed illusion that it breaks as a player. Among other things, because when he has been on the field of play, and except for specific moments, Dembélé has not been a determining player either.. At least, not continuously. If he fails to sell it, a circumstance more than possible due to its poor performance, a loan like Philippe Coutinho's last season is not ruled out. At the moment, Dembélé is still in his limbo.