Ousmane Dembele arrives Barcelona with potential to step into Neymar’s shoes

In a weird twist of fate, Ousmane Dembele just only two years ago was playing in the French lower division at Rennes. A few days ago, he became the second most expensive player in soccer history when Barcelona signed him to replace Neymar in a deal valued at US$173 million. Dembele whose mother is from Mauritania and father from Mali made his professional debut just only 21 months ago and will be the cynosure of all eyes every time he steps on the field of play.

The pressure is now on Dembele to prove his worth and show that Barcelona did the right thing by signing him to step into Neymar’s shoes and provide an anchor for Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez up front. There seem to be a lot of similarities between Neymar and Dembele from the quickness to the nifty skills to the confidence and ability to mesmerise. Barcelona coach, Ernesto Valverde said, “we expect a lot from him. He’s a player that generates a lot of excitement and a lot of expectations.”