If, by some miracle, your first glimpse of Ousmane Dembele was his utterly spectacular, technically sublime goal against Real Madrid in Saturday's preseason Clasico in Dallas, then you're going to snort with derision when I assure you that it's a blessing for Barcelona that the France international is determined to leave for Paris Saint-Germain.
His goal, which put the Spanish champions 1-0 ahead on their way to a 3-0 win, was the epitome of technique, judgement, concentration and athleticism. There can be no question about that. It was also the epitome of what Dembele has been consistently incapable of producing since forcing his move from Borussia Dortmund to Barcelona six years ago.
Xavi, his coach, keeps telling him he can be the best in the world. Former Camp Nou president Josep Bartomeu claimed Dembele was "a much better player than Neymar" and, still more incredibly, current Barcelona boss Joan Laporta made the case that "I still think he's better than Kylian Mbappe." They, and it would appear PSG manager Luis Enrique, all believe in Dembele's talents, but sadly, it's an illusion. And not an uncommon one.
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It's like the perpetually erratic golfer who every so often hits one out of the screws, and that's the shot to keep him coming back. Or the fisherman who's as addicted to talking about the size and the power of "the one that got away."
Far more than he's ever harnessed his athletic pace, explosive sprinting, ambidextrous dribbling or that ferocious shot he possess, Dembele has unleashed the massive power in the potential of what might happen. It's the dream his most devoted fans have of creating greatness, majesty, and elite performance -- even though the odds should be telling Bartomeu, Laporta and Xavi to get real.
It's a glaring fact that Dembele fits into a group containing Phillipe Coutinho, Antoine Griezmann and Samuel Umtiti who have soared elsewhere, noticeably achieved and cost a fortune for Barcelona to bring in, but for one reason or another, failed to grow and thrive once their hugely expensive move to Camp Nou materialised. Fans keep waiting for Dembele to develop into that uber-talent he's always projected to be, but it seems unlikely after all these years.
Of course, not all of this is Dembele's fault or problem. There are only three or four players anywhere in the world who can match some of the talents that keep football coaches drooling over what they think they could do with the 26-year-old in their teams.
Dembele's 0-to-60 Maserati-style explosiveness is not unique, but to then be able to erupt into complex dribbling actions, at that speed, to maintain the velocity over 50 or 60 metres and to have absolutely identical power of control with your left and right foot -- probably only Vinicius Junior, Neymar and Mbappe are truly in that bracket. There are times, too, when Dembele strikes the ball with such clean, technically exquisite power that it looks like his net-bound shot is rocket launched.
These are the bewitching abilities, rare across planet football and brilliant for spectators and sponsors to watch that, if packaged together in a player who knows what he or she is doing -- whose brain, temperament and ambition all ruthlessly match the technical armoury -- make someone a Ballon d'Or winner and true great. The trouble with the hero/antihero of this column is that he's not even close to harnessing all of his abilities, or perhaps how much work that would involve to be as ruthless as he needs to be.
Ever since he arrived at Barcelona -- signed in a panic by a football department asleep at the wheel for far too high a price after Neymar was swept up by Paris Saint-Germain in 2017 -- there has been a frustration around this potentially brilliant winger.
Dembele, from his very first matches in Blaugrana back in 2017 right up to the end of last season, will make a bad decision, misplace an easy pass, fluff a clear shot on goal, choose one dribble too many and look at the resulting failure with an expression of "... how did that happen?" He'll look at his boots, as if they might be on the wrong feet. He'll shake his head, as if this is just some raw deal that fate has in store for him on this particular night, and look puzzled as if to say, Hey ho, no biggie; I'll be back in 10 minutes and then, for sure, things will fall into place for me.
Neither in his choices, his consistency, his expressions nor his body language is there any indication that he realises he's done this a hundred times before. Nor is there any real upswing in his efficacy.
Now, let's be absolutely clear here. This is 100% not a hit piece on Dembele. He's flawed, but aren't we all? He's outrageously gifted and when it clicks, he's devastatingly hard to defend. He's learned a lot, particularly under Xavi, about when to track back, how hard to work defensively. He's well liked by his teammates, now that maturity has begun to seep in.
