Ousmane Dembele moved to Barcelona in 2017 at age 20 for a nine-figure fee after impressive 2016/17 form at Borussia Dortmund. He joined as Neymar's replacement following the Brazilian's 222 million move to Paris Saint-Germain. Dembele's locker was next to Lionel Messi's, and Messi offered advice, urging seriousness and providing on-pitch example for Dembele to watch and learn from. Messi's exceptional positioning and instinctive playmaking made him sometimes appear invisible before decisive actions, and he anticipated teammates' movements like Jordi Alba's overlaps. Dembele and Messi played together 95 times over four seasons, winning two LaLiga titles before Messi's 2021 departure.
A nine-figure move to Barcelona at the age of 20 and the chance to play alongside Lionel Messi is the stuff of dreams for most mere mortals, but that was exactly what happened to Ousmane Dembele in 2017. The French striker's impressive form at Borussia Dortmund during the 2016/17 campaign caught the eye of Nou Camp chiefs and Dembele found himself as Neymar's replacement following the Brazilian's 222million move to Paris Saint-Germain earlier that summer.
I had a very good relationship with Messi from the very first day, he tells FourFourTwo. My locker was right next to his, and he gave a lot of advice to me. He was someone who instinctively knew what you wanted. He told me that I'd have to be serious if I wanted to achieve my dreams after that, I watched and learned from what he did on the pitch.
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