Ousmane Dembele gives Barcelona injury boost by cutting sideline time down from three and a half months to two
OUSMANE DEMBELE has given Barcelona a huge injury boost by vowing to be back in action in two months instead of three and a half.
The £138million striker lasted just 29 minutes of his first La Liga start against Getafe on Saturday before being struck down with a hamstring injury.
The reaction to the niggling muscle tear was dramatic, with the Barca team wearing specially designed shirts in his honour for their win on Tuesday.
Fans were quick to point out that the former Dortmund ace had not lost his life or been struck down by a serious illness, which are more fitting circumstances for such a tribute.
And now it seems their carefully choreographed get-well message might have been even more OTT if he manages to return as early as November instead of January.
The France star travelled to Finland for surgery on on Monday and was then officially ruled out by the club until the New Year.
Dembele returned to Catalonia on Wednesday, the day after his team-mates donned their warm-up tops ahead of their 6-1 La Liga thrashing of Eibar.
And before that latest Lionel Messi magic show,the 20-year-old posted a team photo with a hashtag reading “I'll be back in two months”.
A comeback that rapid would put the forward in contention to face Juventus in the Champions League on November 22 and Valencia in the league three days later.
Pre-match footage – that Barca later deleted from their social media channels – seemed to show Dembele struggling with the injured thigh in the warm-up.
But Nou Camp boss Ernesto Valverde has denied any blame lays at the feet of the Catalan club, or the player.
He said: “I don't think we should read too much into things like that.
"But he's a player who has never had muscle problems in the past, so perhaps he doesn't have the experience to recognise problems which could become worse.
"Because he's a fast player, it's the movement he made which was the worst thing for the muscle.
“Maybe a more experienced player would have known not to make that movement."
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