Manchester United weighing up Ousmane Dembele gamble as Jadon Sancho price tag remains too high
- The world’s second-most expensive player has struggled with injuries but is an ‘incredible talent’
- Solskjaer also keeping an eye on teens Pellistri and Traore ahead of potential Brexit restrictions
There are four right-sided attacking players wondering if they’ll be signed by Manchester United by the time the English transfer window closes on Monday. Two, 20-year-old Jadon Sancho of Borussia Dortmund and 23-year-old Ousmane Dembele of FC Barcelona, would be signed as first team players. They would be costly.
Sancho has long been United’s number one target and Dortmund have maintained throughout that they won’t sell the Englishman for less than €120 million (HK$1 billion). United, who have long maintained that the figure is not realistic, understand that the player wants to join them.
Dembele is an alternative. We’ll come to him, but United and Barcelona have had talks about the man who became the second-most expensive player in history – only behind Neymar – when he signed for €105 million (HK$954 million) in 2017.
Dembele has only played 75 games in three seasons – 42 of them in 2018-19. United are interested in a loan – as they were with Bayern Munich’s Kingsley Coman – but Barcelona want to recoup as much of their money as they can. If there’s to be a deal then they would accept a loan with an obligation to buy. No fee has been agreed.
Penarol’s Facundo Pellistri, 18, and Atalanta’s Ahmad Traore, 18, interest United. If either come, they won’t be as an alternative to Sancho, but would join some of the talents aged 16 to 18 that have arrived since it became clear that Brexit could restrict English clubs signing players.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer spoke in detail about Pellistri with his former teammate and then-Penarol manager Diego Forlan in July. The Norwegian likes to know as much about potential recruits as possible. Forlan told him (and the player) that, speaking from his own experience and happy memories, Old Trafford was the best place for a young player.
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Pellistri, who speaks English and is said to be from a supportive and settled family, is extremely quick – so quick that his manager thinks he’s faster with the ball than players without it. He can play on the right but also the left. He’s two-footed like Forlan and he tries to dribble like Ryan Giggs.
Pellistri is still considered far from the finished product with much to learn in front of goal, but Manchester City and Real Madrid have both shown an interest. Madrid were delighted with the last teenager from Montevideo who they signed from Penarol, Federico Valverde, who is now firmly established in their first team.
As ever, the transfer market is a set to be a merry-go-round. United fans are frustrated at how little their club have climbed on that ride in this transfer window. Barcelona have been looking to sign Memphis Depay, once of United but now of Lyon. If Depay joins the Catalans then it will increase the pressure on them to offload Dembele.
Barcelona’s financial problems were acute even before Covid-19 and they now expect their revenue to drop by 30 per cent. After Lionel Messi decided to stay, they were keen to get some of their big earners off the most expensive wage bill in football. Luis Suarez and Ivan Rakitic were the biggest names to depart under new boss Ronald Koeman.
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Ansu Fati’s superb start to the season also gives Barça confidence that he’s ready to become a regular starter. That’s a status Dembele never enjoyed, despite his cost. Ernesto Valverde, his coach when he arrived in Spain until January this year, felt Dembele had much to learn before he’ll become titular.
Dembele can light up a stadium as big as Camp Nou and Barcelona fans sing his name to the tune of La Marseillaise, but injuries have plagued his time in Spain since arriving just before the end of the 2017 transfer window, when Barcelona were flush with money and they didn’t expect PSG would meet their buy-out clause for Neymar.
Dembele looked raw and overawed in those few early games before a thigh rupture at Getafe in September, but began to settle when back from injury in February. He was capable of playing quick one-touch football with Andres Iniesta and combining with Messi.
He was man of the match in a splendid 5-1 win against Villarreal, scoring twice. He also set up Philippe Coutinho for his side’s first goal, losing four men before running forward and shooting from outside the penalty area. There is a refreshing directness about Dembele, a desire to run at opponents. He’s slight and weighs only 67 kilos (148 pounds), but this means he’s lightning quick and he’s full of tricks.
“Dembele’s an incredible talent,” said Valverde, who was criticised for not playing him in his side’s 3-0 Champions League defeat in Rome in 2018. “He has technique, he is fast, he has flow. He’s young and has lots of time ahead. I have high hopes for him next season.”
Injuries have stalled the fit-again Dembele, but he has played only 20 minutes of Barcelona’s opening two league games. If United bought him they’d be taking a gamble.
