Barcelona are already working on the stage presented to them without Ousmane Dembele in the team. The Frenchman was a vital part for coach Xavi Hernandez. A player who has always praised him publicly and who, unless something very strange happens, will soon stop wearing the Blaugrana shirt. If the coach asked for signings after El Clasico, I will ask for a lot more now.
Until a few days ago, the requests from Xaxi centered around a midfielder and a right back. Without Dembele, the need for a striker comes into play. There are people in the team who can fill that position, but that doesn’t provide the team with what Dembele gives.
According to the newspaper Marca, the time has come to put names on the table. The club are evaluating options, although they assure Joao Felix is not on that list. Despite his name being linked with Barca’s with more intensity since Dembele happened, Felix is not the profile Xavi is looking for.
The same goes for Yannick Carrasco. Another player who has long been touted as an option for the Catalan side, but according to sources, the Belgian is not currently considered as a replacement for Dembele.
A footballer that Barca love is Bernardo Silva, but it now seems unrealistic to believe that Manchester City can let go of one of their best footballers. Even more so after the departure of Ilkay Gungodan.
Seeing what has been seen, Mateu Alemany was very right when he said that it would be “an interesting summer”. Of course, he probably wasn’t thinking of Dembele when he said that sentence.