i agree with the above. Dembele is very good at finding the “free man” on the pitch. This was especially useful due to us lacking attacking tactics beyond cross and inshallah. With that said, his stats are terrible for a player of his calibre. Terrible.
18 goals at Barca in LL in total? I’m to lazy to check. 🤣 Terrible.
I disagree that our negotiators did a poor job considering the circumstances. Dembele wanted to leave on a free transfer and we got him to extend for an additional year, at a time of financial ruin and an attacking line consisting of Braithwaite, Abde, and Jutgla, et al.
Of course, this is also relative, for losing a player for whom we paid a fortune for a measly 25m euro looks really bad. But getting Dembele to extend for an additional year when we needed his profile was good, considering the alternative.
We did what we could considering the circumstances. 25m plus a one year renewal > leaving on a free.
I think we always knew we were going to lose him this summer, hence why we signed Raphinha. That’s the replacement on the right.