Few players at the elite level have the ability to frustrate as much as Ousmane Dembélé. The supremely gifted and versatile French winger, despite costing Barcelona £96million a little over a year ago, is still a long way from the finished article. He loses possession too easily (more often than 98 per cent of La Liga attackers), lacks positional understanding and is not yet as physically robust a...

With 70 minutes played and the scoreline tied at 1-1, France were in trouble. Among the favourites to win this summer’s World Cup, Les Blues were struggling to lift themselves to break down Australia in their opening group fixture. And so Didier Deschamps turned to a familiar face, introducing Olivier Giroud off the bench. For a such a modern team with such world-class talent, this was a decidedly...

If reports are to believed, Ousmane Dembélé‘s nightmarish spell at Barcelona could soon be coming to an end. The French flyer forced through a move to the Camp Nou in August 2017 after he went on strike. Borussia Dortmund managed to negotiate a deal worth £95million, with add-ons to be paid at a later date, which saw the former Rennes winger become the second-most expensive player ever. He w...

Attackers are no longer judged solely on their ability to put the ball in the back of the net. The game has evolved and the demands on these players have changed. Adapt or perish. Nowadays those tasked with scoring goals also have to be diligent in their defensive duties. Not only that, they also have to create opportunities for team-mates. Some of the top scorers across Europe this season the ar...

The 2017/18 season saw a number of players step out from the shadows and steal the limelight away from the usual suspects. Mohamed Salah, dubbed a flop due to his time at Chelsea, has stunned the world with his performances for Liverpool both domestically as well as on the continent. The Egyptian, who netted on the final day of the season to ensure the Reds would be playing Champions League footba...

It appeared Kevin De Bruyne would break the long-standing record for assists in a Premier League season until recently, so it will come as a major surprise to many to learn that the Belgian does not even make the top ten in Europe’s top five leagues for assists per 90 minutes for the 2017/18 campaign. The playmaker was a creative force of nature for Manchester City as Pep Guardiola’s m...

Ousmane Dembélé arrived at Barcelona last summer with high expectations and an even higher price tag, setting the recently crowned champions of Spain back an initial €105million, with the potential for another €40million to be added if conditional bonuses are triggered. The Catalan giants, stinging from the loss of Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain, earmarked the French winger, then plying his trade w...

Philippe Coutinho’s £140million move from Liverpool to Barcelona in January brought about the possibility of a mouthwatering prospect at the Camp Nou. After losing Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain in a world-record £198million deal last summer, Barça’s vaunted ‘MSN’ trio of Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez and the Brazilian forward, who had combined for a staggering 364 goals in the...

Neymar changed the transfer market forever last summer when he moved from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain for £198million. Previously, no player had been transferred for more than £100million, with the record then being held by Paul Pogba, for whom Manchester United paid Juventus £89million in 2016 to bring the midfielder back to Old Trafford. Since the Brazilian’s move, two further players have...

For the best part of a decade now, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have battled it out to be considered the best football player in the world. The last nine Ballon d’Ors have been shared by the duo with the Argentine currently ahead by one. The pair are now both coming into the twilight of their careers: Messi will be 31 during the 2018 World Cup and Ronaldo turns 33 years old in February. Wit...

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have, between them, scooped up every single World Player of the Year award since 2008. The former won it in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015, while the latter won it in 2008, 2013, 2014, 2016 and now 2017. However, both players – while still unstoppable stars for Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively – are approaching the latter stages of their outstanding career...

“We knew Andriy [Yarmolenko] was capable of doing such things,” Borussia Dortmund’s sporting director Michael Zorc told German newspaper Ruhr Nachrichten after his goal against Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League. “Good footballers rarely need a lot of time to settle, [but] Andriy still has to get used to our playing rhythm over a longer period of time.” The Ukrainia...

In years to come people will look back on the summer transfer window of 2017 and pinpoint it as the period which kickstarted the new era of transfers. Neymar moved to Paris Saint-Germain to become the first £100million player in world football and pandemonium followed. The Parisians parted with £198million to pry the Brazilian away from Barcelona, who could do nothing about it. The 25-year-old sho...

Every day Football Whispers pore over Europe’s major news outlets in search of the latest transfer reports relating to your club. We then assess the reliability of the rumours, determine the likelihood of the moves, and analyse where the potential signings would fit in. Today we bring you the latest on Barcelona’s pursuit of a Neymar replacement, Tottenham Hotspur’s potential next summer signing,...

Every day Football Whispers pore over Europe’s major news outlets in search of the latest transfer reports relating to your club. We then assess the reliability of the rumours, determine the likelihood of the moves, and analyse where the potential signings would fit in. Today we bring you talk of a major shakeup at Chelsea, the latest on Barcelona’s chaotic approach to spending the Neymar money an...

Every day Football Whispers pore over Europe’s major news outlets in search of the latest transfer reports relating to your club. We then assess the reliability of the rumours, determine the likelihood of the moves, and analyse where the potential signings would fit in. Today we bring you talk of in-demand Monaco teenager Kylian Mbappé and his future, Inter Milan giving Tottenham Hotspur hope in...

Simple in its execution, Ousmane Dembélé’s finish, low in the corner beyond the outstretched hand of England goalkeeper Tom Heaton, not only symbolised the beginning of a new era in the France national team, but could be a window into the future of European football. Although far from over the hill, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi won’t last forever. Just like Pele, Diego Maradona, Johan Cruyff...