Ousmane Dembele Has Been Reborn Under Ronald Koeman On Verge Of Make Or Break Season At FC Barcelona

Ousmane Dembele has been reborn in training under Ronald Koeman and is feeling better than ever on the cusp of a fourth make-or-break season at FC Barcelona, a report alleges.

The Dutchman began commanding his charges for the first time as new head coach on Monday, and Mundo Deportivo claim that the 23-year-old looks “very lively” while ready to finally establish continuity with the Blaugrana.

The World Cup winner has “found a new motivation under Koeman”, it is written, and has been buoyed by the Dream Team legend’s preference to field fast, “daring” wingers ready to exploit space.

Simultaneously, Koeman’s technical staff have been helping Dembele to feel more “secure”, with one of the assistants a specialist in strength work and injury prevention who has been putting the former Dortmund star through his paces with “intense physical work”.

“The French international is assimilating very well”, while demonstrating “the best attitude” to his work, it is added.

It is hoped of course that this is not another false start for Dembele. Failing to feature for the Catalans since November 27, when he pulled up less than 20 minutes into a Champions League clash with his old club at the Camp Nou, he attempted to make a comeback in January that was thwarted by him suffering a knock to his other hamstring.

Barca are on their third manager since the turn of the year, of course, with Ernesto Valverde ousted before Quique Setien was also shown the door following the 8-2 drubbing to Bayern Munich in the UCL quarterfinals three weeks ago.

Present as an unused substitute, this marked the only time that Setien had Dembele at his disposal, but with more careful training and attention, he could now be ready to finally kick on in what is a do-or-die campaign in 2020/2021.

His contract running out in 2022, next summer’s will be the last window that Barça could realistically recover money on their €105mn (plus €40mn in add-ons) signing captured in the same period Neymar left for PSG in 2017.

As Koeman will insist that Antoine Griezmann is played in a more central role, Dembele is tipped to compete for minutes on the left wing with 17-year-olds Ansu Fati and Pedri.