10 goals and 18 assists: Liverpool’s pursuit of French dazzler should excite the fans

Following the surprise sacking of manager Thomas Tuchel, there’s a lot of uncertainty regarding some Borussia Dortmund stars. One of them is French sensation, Ousmane Dembele. The 20-year old was on fire for Dortmund last term and has excelled in a high press system. It is no surprise then, that he is linked with a move to Merseyside with ex-Dortmund coach Jürgen Klopp an admirer of the Frenchman’s talents.

Dembele revealed that he rejected a move to Anfield last summer after a late bid by Jürgen Klopp. He told the German he had already made up his mind to join Dortmund.

“I saw Klopp in Paris but I told him I had made up my mind to sign for Dortmund,” Dembele told FourFourTwo.

“I told Claudio Ranieri the same thing.”

Dembele is linked with a move to the Nou Camp, as back-up forward Paco Alcacer has not lived up to his hype. The Catalans are looking to add the agile front-man as an option if any of the MSN is not playing.

Player Stats

The former Rennes player had a stunning season at Dortmund. He was a regular in a young side which had a lot attacking impetus. Dembele has already made his international bow and scored the winner for the national side against England last week to secure a 3-2 friendly win for the French side.

Dembele made 52 appearances last season, scoring 10 goals and providing 18 assists along the way. The diminutive winger is a great dribbler, with almost 3.2 successful dribbles per game. As a result, he gets fouled often, 1.9 fouls a game, to be exact. He averages 2 key passes in a game and is a threat from direct free kicks. (Stats via Whoscored.com)

What’ll he offer the club?

Ousmane Dembele is the perfect example of the kind of player Klopp wants. He is fast, has great ball control, is not afraid to dribble, and has a keen eye for a goal or goal-scoring chance. The French international can combine well with the Brazilians, Coutinho and Firmino. He offers a similar threat to that of Sadio Mane. While the Senegalese is a more powerful runner, though, Dembele can combine pace with incredible dribbling ability on the ball.

For a player of his age, he shows great maturity in finishing off the team’s attacks. There always is a counter-attacking threat when Dembele is on the pitch, as England recently discovered.

He was unhappy that Tuchel was sacked and was quoted saying by Goal, “I’m disappointed because he is a coach who trusted me a lot. Tuchel was always there for me and brought me on a lot. He is a very good coach with whom I had a great time.”

Any move for him will see a tug-of-war between Liverpool, Tottenham and Barcelona.