Paris Saint-Germain striker Ousmane Dembele scored the opening goal of their Champions League semi-final tie against Arsenal and he was once on the brink of a transfer to one of the Gunners’ Premier League rivals.
Dembele fired past Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya in the fourth minute of the first leg at the Emirates Stadium, where he would have played against them in the Premier League had he made a different choice when he left his first club in France.
Now 27, Dembele left Rennes in 2016 and headed for Borussia Dortmund in Germany rather than across the Channel to the English top division.
Having scored 12 goals in 26 Ligue 1 appearances for Les Rennais, he was a young man very much in demand and opted to join future England manager Thomas Tuchel at BVB.
Liverpool were eager to bring the young French striker to England and there were talks that could easily have led to a different outcome.
Speaking to Onze Mundial in 2018, Dembele revealed the options he had when he left Rennes two years earlier: “I spoke to three clubs. Dortmund, Liverpool and Barcelona. I had an appointment with FC Barcelona. I told them, ‘For next season, it will not be possible. But the next time you contact me, I’ll come.’ And that’s what happened.”
Conversations with Tuchel persuaded Dembele to choose what proved to be a short-lived move to the Westfalenstadion when Barcelona came back in for him after just one season in Germany.
Dembele jumped from Dortmund to Barcelona in 2018 for a colossal fee that could have risen as high as €145 million.
Coutinho struggled to make an impact at Barcelona (Image: Getty)
“That I say no a second time to Barcelona? It was impossible for me,” he said.
The ripple effect of Dembele’s choice in 2016 might extend further than we realise.
In January 2018, Barcelona spent huge money again – this time with an even higher initial fee – to relieve Liverpool of Philippe Coutinho.
It seems extremely unlikely that Barcelona would have paid Liverpool the thick end of £250 million for two players in the space of just a few months and Coutinho’s transfer away from Anfield had its own knock-on effects.
Under former Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool subsequently signed Alisson for what was then a world record fee for a goalkeeper.
Both Klopp and successor Arne Slot will consider that money well spent.
Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Premier League, Champions League, PSG, Paris Saint-Germain, Ousmane Dembele
