Arsenal considering move for Barcelona contract rebel, talks with agent started

A lot’s been said about Ousmane Dembele’s future at Barcelona. On one hand, there are reports claiming that the young Frenchman would, in fact, continue at Camp Nou beyond the ongoing season, and then there are claims that PSG are leading the contest at the moment.

It is all way too perplexing for someone to even predict where Dembele would end up when his contract expires in June.

It could be France’s Ligue 1, or it could even be the English Premier League, where Arsenal have emerged as the newest contender to have reportedly shown interest.

El Chiringuito TV sensationally claims that Dembele’s agent, Moussa Sissoko, has met with Arsenal over a potential deal.

While there are no details mentioned, it remains to be seen whether the report has any substantial muscle to it as the Premier League team is highly unlikely to meet the player’s wage demand.

Dembele to Arsenal, a flimsy move to even consider

There’s absolutely no denying Dembele’s competency but bear in mind that a move to the English Premier League might as well prove out to be nothing but baptism by fire. 

Nothing against Dembele, but his injury record speaks for himself. Since moving to Barcelona in 2017, the 24-year-old has missed 102 matches due to different injuries over the course of his four-and-a-half-year tenure.

This season alone, he has missed 18 games due to a knee issue, a hamstring problem and COVID-19.

Fragile is the term that would describe Dembele the best if he does decide to move to Arsenal. Given the breakneck nature of the Premier League, teams would show no mercy to someone who has struggled so much due to the hamstring issue alone.

Since switching alliance from Dortmund to Barcelona, he has missed 55 of his 102 games due to hamstring injuries.

Above all, do Arsenal really need Dembele? One might say Mikel Arteta can, in fact, make some adjustments to slot him in, but then what happens with Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli?

It’s only fair to say Dembele’s Barcelona antics haven’t really earned him any praises from across the continent. And to say it was a similar story during his Borussia Dortmund days will be an understatement to make.

One just cannot forget why he was suspended by the German team in August 2017. In case you don’t; it was due to his efforts of pushing a move to Barcelona. 

In a bid to become Barcelona’s then most expensive signing, Dembele refused to turn up for training, and it is behaviour like this that Mikel Arteta just cannot afford to bear as he continues his rebuilding project of his believed Arsenal.