Moussa Dembélé He will soon become a new Atlético de Madrid player. An unthinkable addition a few months ago, but materialized by the unexpected departure of Diego Costa in the winter market. The French U21 international He arrives on loan until the end of the season from Olympique de Lyon.
The one born in Pontoise 24 years ago was one of the first young players splashed by the arrival of Nasser Al-Khelaïfi to PSG. The Parisian team became an emerging economic giant in world football, causing the flight of most of its youth players, among which is Dembélé. Fulham decided to bet on him and ultimately he would become one of the most promising attackers in French football.
Strong forward, very powerful in the open field stride, but with many limitations in the supports, Moussa Dembélé has been living one of his worst seasons as a professional. He has barely scored a goal in Ligue 1 and has lost ownership to Tino Kadewere, Pichichi of the last Ligue 2 and that has left unnoticed the participation of the PSG youth squad at Olympique de Lyon.
What can best define the ram is the spectacular facility that treasures to materialize occasions. He is not a footballer who, at first glance, gives the feeling of being differential in the last third of the field, but most of the balls he receives near the area he turns into goals. This is confirmed by their numbers in Fulham, Celtic and Lyon. In England, Atlético's next reinforcement scored 19 goals in 64 games spread over three years; in Scotland, Dembélé scored 51 goals in 94 games and, in France, 45 points spread over 108 games that raised him as Olympique Lyon's top scorer during the last two seasons.
Dembélé is a forward who comes like a glove to Atlético. Simeone's men had no need to sign a player with a Benzema or Firmino profile, quite the opposite. To generate chances there are already Koke, João Félix, Marcos Llorente and Correa and whose areas of influence, generally behind the striker, do not need to be stepped on. In fact, Luis Suárez has become one of LaLiga's top scorers in this way. He Uruguayan does not need to participate almost never in the attacks from your team, but yes to be ready to score everything you get near the area. Dembélé, much better physically than the current Suárez, is a striker who has shown certain tendency to suffer against retracted blocks, but very efficient to fix rival centers (it's a beast in melee), collide with them and allow the playmakers to have more room to receive between the lines.
Another of Dembélé's great strengths is its spectacular ability to activate the weak side through his back game. Without being a technically virtuoso, he fixes the center-back, contains it and takes the ball to the less populated side of the play. Allows you to compensate for your technical deficit with a powerful upper body, in addition to having a very high percentage of duels won per game. It's a concrete wall who takes constant advantages for the rest of the team and knows how to put his body very well in the area to orient himself in front of goal. This is how he became Lyon's best striker in the last two seasons and thus won the interest of major European clubs, including Atlético de Madrid.
Dembelé has many good things, but he is also an intermittent footballer. He usually has certain disconnections in games and that is why he sometimes spends many minutes without having contact with the ball, especially when your team attacks against low and retracted blocks. Another of its weaknesses is the technical section. He is a player who has so much power in the start that sometimes he runs out of space to advance and does not delay in driving. That is why he has lost ownership this season, since in addition to having lost his ability to see the goal, he has found a team that dominates through possession in the center of the field. and he demands a different type of striker than the new Atlético de Madrid player.
Dembelé is a 9 that can shine in various contexts for Simeone. If the rojiblancos play against a team that gives them possession, there the presence of the striker is vital to fix the centrals, draw potential breaks into space (Joao Felix with his last pass can give him many advantages) and to finish off in the area, lateral centers. He has a spectacular passing game and plays very well from behind. If, on the contrary, Atlético retreats and has to go into space, there Dembelé is devastating. He is a player with excessive power when he starts powerfully and stretches with his powerful stride. For this reason, his incorporation, beyond his irregularity this season, can solve many headaches for Simeone, both to give rest to a Luis Suárez who has been weakened in recent years, as well as to unbalance very even matches.