5 things Ousmane Dembele would bring to Barcelona

Ousmane Dembele

"No way," Borussia Dortmund Sporting Director Michael Zorc replied when asked whether Ousmane Dembele could leave in the summer. "What we have seen from him was extraordinary, both in his value for team and his development. You always get the feeling he can do something special, make the difference. He can decide games by himself, even those games he's not really involved in."

Hailed as a future Ballon d'Or winner by former Manchester United defender Mikael Silvestre, such praise has become the norm for Dembele. After a tussle that involved all major European giants ended with a transfer to Dortmund from Rennes last summer, Dembele is in the spotlight again a year later. An excellent debut season at Dortmund has been yet another steep climb in the upward trajectory of his career.

Barcelona have retained an interest in Dembele for a long time now. Last summer, they lost out since they clearly couldn't offer the amount of first team football Dortmund could. The Spanish giants hovered over the possibility again this summer, but Dortmund rebuffed the offer out of hand. However, Barcelona don't intend to give up – and Dembele could be a Blaugrana player next summer or beyond.

Here are 5 things Ousmane Dembele would bring to Barcelona:

#5 Youth flair

Whisper it quietly, but the Barcelona squad is at a crossroads. Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Andres Iniesta, Gerard Pique and Javier Mascherano are all into their thirties, and if they are to avoid the mistakes the likes of AC Milan, Inter Milan, Manchester City and Manchester United made in recent years, they need to start the process of overhauling their squad before it is too late.

Ousmane Dembele, at 20, is the kind of signing this Barca side needs. Young, hungry and eager to learn, Messi and Suarez will have fun mentoring the carefree talent of Dembele.