Ex-Barcelona director talks Neymar exit, Dembele treatment – ‘Given us all a slap in the face’ | OneFootball

The race for this season’s Ballon d’Or appears to be between Ousmane Dembele and Lamine Yamal, and the two players have an ironical connection.

Dembele was Barcelona’s long-term bet for the right-wing position for years until he pushed for a departure to PSG.

After the Frenchman got his way, it was young Yamal who eventually replaced him in the position and is now the team’s most influential player.

Barcelona may well have been impatient with Dembele, but may well have not discovered Yamal had he stayed. The success of both players, thus, is more intricately connected to one another than appears to the eye.

Former director speaks

Former Barcelona technical secretary Robert Fernandez spoke to the media in a recent interview and gave a detailed breakdown of the final years of his time as an administrator at the club and the entire Dembele saga.

He began by speaking on the departure of Neymar Jr. to PSG and how the move destroyed Barcelona as a development that came out of the blue.

“My last year was especially difficult because Neymar’s departure upset us a lot. He completely upset us. They were complicated moments, but in two months we were able to reverse a dynamic that seemed to go very badly.”

Elaborating on how they coped with the departure of the Brazilian superstar, Fernandez said,

“And we did it with the arrival of a player who contributed a lot to us: Paulinho, who gave us the championship and made us feel that we were a good team, in a league that was very complicated.”

“Not only because of Neymar’s absence but also because it must be understood that being a Barça coach is not an easy job,” he added.

Neymar left Barcelona in 2017 for PSG. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

He then stated how the season ended well for the club despite all the setbacks.

“And, even so, it ended up being a fantastic year. The only thing that really hurt us was the elimination against Roma because we had real options to compete to be European champions.”

The former administrator was then asked if Barcelona did everything in their capacity to ensure Neymar stayed, and he openly admitted that there was not much more that they could have done than what they attempted.

“In every way. But when a player is good and great, he decides. There’s nothing to do, forget it. It’s always a decision of the player. If you are good, choose where you want to go and when.”

“He who is not good cannot decide, because he does not have that capacity. Neymar decided to go where he wanted and when he wanted. And sometimes you can do nothing,” he added.

On Dembele and his treatment at Barcelona

Barcelona plunged into a state of panic after Neymar’s departure and looked for high-quality replacements irrespective of the price. Fernandez, however, admitted that Kylian Mbappe was never an option.

“No, not Mbappe. He wanted to go to Madrid. Those are bar counter comments.”

“In Barcelona, we already know how this works: there is a group of journalists who stir these things because, if we don’t talk about that, what are we talking about? We would be bored,” he added.

Dembele is in the UCL final and is a contender for Ballon d’Or. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)

Eventually, Barcelona signed Ousmane Dembele as the chosen one to replace Neymar, but the Frenchman never really got going and faced a serious struggle with his fitness.

However, Fernandez was critical of the treatment that the French attacker was handed during his time at Barça.

“No one was patient. Not the press, not the club, and he was too young to understand many things. That’s the reality. But he’s taught us all a lesson. He already taught it to us in his last year at Barça,” said Fernandez.

“Everything that was said – that he wasn’t a good professional, that he went out at night, that he drank… wasn’t true. After two very serious injuries, in a very difficult environment, he showed that he was a great professional.,” he added.

Praising Dembele’s commitment to the badge despite all that was said in the media about him, the former club member said,

“Another player, at his age, would have thrown in the towel. But he didn’t. He kept working, recovered, played very well with Xavi, and was highly rated by him. He’s doing very well now. He’s given us all a slap in the face.”

“And I’m very happy that he’s doing well. He is a very good boy, and he has been a great professional. Overcoming two serious injuries and getting out of such a complicated context is not just anyone’s do. He is 28 years old, a magnificent age,” he added.

Fernandez also confirmed that Barcelona did not lose any money on the Dembele transfer with respect to amortisation considerations.

“But Barça didn’t lose money with Dembele, because of the amortization.”

Source: Mundo Deportivo