This is an article that is long overdue. Ousmane Dembele has quickly become one of The Mastermind’s favourite footballers this season in such a short span of time, taking to his new club better than anyone could have ever hoped for. Nobody expected Ousmane Dembele to have this big of an impact for Borussia Dortmund this season. In 3 Ways Borussia Dortmund Could Lineup Next Season The Mastermind even proclaimed that he would be only appear in the UEFA Champions League this season and be relegated to the bench for Bundesliga fixtures. But against all odds, Ousmane Dembele has quickly become Borussia Dortmund’s most integral player and he’s still only 19 years old.

What Makes Dembele So Special?

Dembele’s unbelievable passion for the game has been one of the most impressive things to watch about the youngster this season. The Frenchman just has such a great appetite for football and wants to perform to his best in every single game he plays. He doesn’t settle for mediocrity and on the rare occasion when he hasn’t assisted or scored a goal in a match, he’ll do everything in his power to do so. Whenever Borussia Dortmund have been struggling this season, it’s been Dembele, the 19-year old, leading the charge to get them back into the match and the Black and Yellows have to thank him for several of the points they’ve picked up this season. Recently Thomas Tuchel has even tailored his side towards him, making sure that the Frenchman is the player that they always have on the ball in dangerous attacking areas.

The other significant factor that sets Ousmane Dembele apart from other youngsters, perhaps even the majority of footballers the world, is his fantastic ability in possession of the ball. The French footballer has completed 3.3 dribbles per game for Dortmund this season, the most in the Bundesliga by quite some distance. He’s got footwork and dribbling skills that could give Neymar and Eden Hazard a run for their money and practically every game a Lionel Messi styled goal looks destined to happen until he unselfishly plays in a teammate and picks up an assist instead. If five players surrounded him he could still find a way to break free of all of them, making him one of the best dribblers on the planet, and he’s still only 19.

But unlike some of the other skillful, talented players around the world, Ousmane Dembele puts in the work and transfers those skills into Dortmund’s attack, grabbing a goal, an assist or both in nearly every game, and even doing his defensive work as well, buying into the Dortmund way of defending and always hustling and tracking back with his teammates. Dembele has scored 5 goals and assisted a further 8 in 21 Bundesliga matches so far this term, that’s more goals + assists than any other teenager in the world and it’s not even close. He’s even managed to rise to the occasion in big UEFA Champions League matches, scoring a goal with 5 assists in just 7 appearances. Highlighting his incredible knack for picking out a pass, the youngster currently sits in second in assists in both the Bundesliga and the UEFA Champions League, behind only Emil Forsberg (Bundesliga) and Neymar (UCL). For a 19-year old to be directly involved in 19 goals from 32 matches this season in all competitions is just outstanding and proves just how talented of a footballer Ousmane Dembele is.

The Future

A Dortmund legend in the making, Ousmane Dembele has quite the future ahead of him. If at the age of 19 he can keep established footballers with tremendous quality like Shinji Kagawa, Andre Schurrle and Mario Gotze out of the lineup, then who knows what he can accomplish later in his footballing career. Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester United should all come calling next season, but with a good head on his shoulders, Ousmane Dembele will likely reject the offers, stay in Dortmund and continue to tear up the Bundesliga.

He’s been Dortmund’s best player this season, arguably the best player in the entire German Bundesliga this season and Ousmane Dembele is undeniably the best teenager in the world of football.

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