“I have wasted many years of my life” – Ousmane Dembele

Barcelona forward Ousmane Dembele says he feels like he has wasted years of his life battling injuries that have inadvertently affected his career.

The 25-year-old has often been sidelined in the past due to one injury problem or the other which meant he hadn’t really helped the squad as Barcelona would have expected.

Dembele arrived at the Camp Nou in 2017 for a massive fee from Borussia Dortmund but has taken a long time to settle into a consistent groove. Only in the last year or so has he started to look like the player Barca hoped he would be.

“When I came to Barca I was younger, of course I went out, but not as much as people say or as people imagine,” Dembele told RMC Sport.

“From 2017 to 2021 I 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.

“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.

“Since then I’ve not had any injuries. We cross our fingers and keep working. I’m good, I feel good at Barcelona, I have the confidence of the whole team, the whole club and I’m happy. Now everyone is talking about football it’s better.”

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The Frenchman has suffered from multiple injuries in recent years which has hampered his productive abilities on the pitch.

However, Dembele in recent months has shown an obvious sign of improvement in his overall gameplay that justifies the €105 million fee he was bought for.

During the summer, there were a lot of rumours that the Frenchman would leave the Camp Nou but he has denied the reports, stating he always knew he would stay.

“With Xavi’s trust, I felt I had to stay. I really want Barcelona to win the Champions League again, it’s been seven years,” said Dembele.

“I remember a meeting with Xavi in December. I told him I was going to sign my contract.

“Personally, winning the Champions League with Barcelona is my aim… winning titles, LaLiga Santander, the Champions League, that’s the most important thing.”

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