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Ousmane Dembele has opened up about his time at Barcelona and has admitted he has lost many years of his career due to his ongoing injury problems.
The Frenchman has been plagued by injury since joining the Catalan giants from Borussia Dortmund and told RMC Sport that he feels he wasted his early years at the club.
“From 2017 to 2021 I have wasted my time enormously. I have lost five years of my life. I had to work to be able to play, to be healthy and to be able to perform little by little,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of hamstring injuries. The trainers insisted to me that if I didn’t work more, I was going to relapse. With Koeman I started to improve and with Xavi it has gone better.”
Dembele does appear to have put his injury problems behind him since returning to action early in 2022. The forward finished last season top of the assists charts in La Liga and has continued to impress in the current campaign.
The 25-year-old has made eight appearances in all competitions for Xavi’s side, picking up four assists and scoring two goals. His performances have seen him recalled to the France squad which offers hope he could feature for Les Bleus at the World Cup.
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Dembele Talks Xavi Influence
Dembele also spoke about how coach Xavi has helped him flourish at Barcelona and insisted he always wanted to stay at the club. The forward did look set to leave on a free transfer in the summer but eventually signed a contract extension.
The France international says he only ever wanted to stay at Barcelona and told the club all the way back in December 2021 he would sign a new contract to remain at the Camp Nou.
“Trust is very important, and Xavi has given it to me,” he said. “After what Xavi told me, I decided to stay. I want Barça to win the Champions League again. It’s been seven years since they’ve done that. I always told Xavi that I wanted to stay at the club. Afterwards, it was negotiations and contractual. I remember a meeting in December, where I told him that I was going to sign my contract. I always said that I wanted to stay in Barça and I feel good there.”
Dembele has signed a two-year contract extension that is designed to keep him at the club until 2024.
France to Win World Cup?
France will head into the World Cup as defending champions and Dembele is confident Didier Deschamps’ side can retain their crown in Qatar.
“The quality of the group is important. It was seen in Russia in 2018. The objective is to repeat that triumph” he explained. Dembele also added he is looking forward to playing alongside Kylian Mbappe again: “I know his quality and he mine. We have played four or five games together, and it went very well.”
Dembele’s last appearance for France came against Hungary back in 2021 but he now has the perfect opportunity to show his worth on the international scene and stake a claim to be in the squad for the World Cup.
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