OPINION
There are certain players in world football who are world class talents, but who are so troublesome that they simply aren’t worth the trouble.
We’ve seen a situation such as this developing at Manchester United with Paul Pogba, while there seems to be a similar one over in Barcelona with Ousmane Dembele.
Despite the latter have a bit of a reputation as an enfant terrible, it seems that Liverpool are willing to take a risk on him. TEAMtalk reported recently that the French international is a key transfer target for the Reds and that Anfield is one of his preferred destinations were he to leave Catalonia.
Surely, though, Jurgen Klopp needs to nip this pursuit in the bud. Not only is the 22-year-old’s price tag thought to be a whopping £90million, but he’s not even good enough to get in the Liverpool team.
Yes, the former Borussia Dortmund man is a phenomenal talent, but in no way is he better than any of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino or Sadio Mane.
This season Dembele managed 15 goals and six assists, with 1.4 key passes per game and 1.8 dribbles per game [Source: WhoScored]. Salah, on the other hand, bagged 30 goals and 10 assists, 1.7 key passes and 2.1 dribbles [Source: WhoScored].
Mane hit 27 goals and managed 2 assists, with 1.3 per passes per game and 1.6 dribbles [Source: WhoScored]. Firmino, then: 20 goals and eight assists, with 1.1 key passes per game and 1.2 dribbles [Source: WhoScored].
While Dembele compares favourably to Mane and Firmino in key passes and dribbles, he falls well short in goals scored and, with Firmino at least, in assists. Up against Salah, he fails to challenge the Egyptian in any of the aforementioned statistics.
Clearly Liverpool have a good mix of attributes in their current front three. Mane is the pure goalscorer, Firmino the creator and Salah does a bit of both.
Dembele, though, doesn’t have what it takes to usurp any of them. So would you really pay £90million for a benchwarmer? Unlikely. No, it’s time Klopp let this one go.
