Barcelona should not sell Ousmane Dembele this summer

Barcelona have one of football’s most talented young stars in Ousmane Dembele, yet the French forward’s name continues to be bounced around in transfer speculation. He should not be sold this summer.

Although Ousmane Dembele hasn’t quite reached the heights he achieved in his lone season with Borussia Dortmund before joining Barcelona, the talent he possesses is obvious. Dembele is one of Barcelona’s best young players, which has made him perhaps the most valuable bargaining chip in reported negotiations for PSG superstar Neymar.

Barcelona reportedly haven’t given up on their chase for Neymar, and they may have offered Dembele as part of a package deal for one of the world’s top three players. Parting ways with Dembele, Philippe Coutinho and cash is a steep price for one player. And for Barca, that’s too steep of a price.

The good news is that COPE’s Helena Condis has reported a different stance from Barca’s camp. Per Condis, Barcelona views Dembele as unsellable this summer, almost negating the reports that he’s been shopped for Neymar. Now, Barca have perhaps made an exception to the rule of thumb by offering up such a valuable player in order to get Neymar, but they should still avoid trading away the 22-year-old. Yes, even for Neymar.

Barcelona’s attack is already heavy on veteran players. Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez are both 32, and while the former is still the best player in the world, the latter needs to be replaced after the 2019-2020 campaign. La Blaugrana’s newest addition, Antoine Griezmann, is a 28-year-old superstar in the prime of his career. Thus, he set Barcelona back 120 million euros.

Neymar would cost a king’s ransom. And like Griezmann, he may only have a few years left in his prime as he is 27. Meanwhile, Dembele is under 23 years old, so he conceivably has almost a decade of world-class football to give to his team.

And on that note, Dembele’s loyalty is hard to question. Even amidst interest from winger-needy Bayern Munich, Dembele is uninterested in playing anywhere but his favorite club, Barcelona. This is despite the fact that his starting position is far from guaranteed, now that Griezmann has been purchased to join Messi, Coutinho and Suarez. The interest in Neymar hasn’t seemed to perturb Dembele, who is still more than willing to compete for a spot.

That willingness to compete is indicative of Dembele’s drive. There’s a narrative that Dembele causes “problems,” yet there’s scarcely any evidence of him being unprofessional. He is a high-quality young player who believes in his talents and loves the club, and it would send a terrible message to future Barcelona players if they were to toss him aside to reunite with Neymar before giving him a chance to be a star.

Dembele has the quality to be as good as Neymar in five years when he is 27, and Barcelona need to stick by him. If they sell him or trade him to PSG, they may not get fair value on what they paid for him from Dortmund. At the time, Dembele was the world’s best young player, and not much has changed since then, other than the fact that Kylian Mbappe has now arisen. But Dembele is in the second spot behind him; Barcelona should not neglect his ceiling.

It’s reassuring to hear a report that Barca are uninterested in losing Dembele this summer, but they cannot be swayed by the thought of acquiring Neymar. They should stick with Dembele, whose technical prowess and ability in the final third are already elite; it’s scary to think how good he’ll be in a few years if Barca trust him.