Valverde's plan for Dembele
Ernesto Valverde believes that Ousmane Dembele needs to take a step forward, and he made this clear when speaking to the press. He wants to put the Frenchman centre-stage, but he needs to see more from him.
As reported by 'Sport', Barcelona's head coach has a plan to restore the forward to his form of 2017. According to the Catalan media outlet, the time has arrived for Dembele to be handed more responsibility.
'Sport' believes that Dembele will be given a spot in the starting lineup in Barcelona's game against Girona on Saturday. This is part of Valverde's plan to attempt to restore confidence in the young player.
The manager hopes that by doing this, it will allow Dembele to adapt to Barcelona and, above all, show them the frightening form he demonstrated at Borussia Dortmund last season.
The Catalan paper goes further, claiming that Valverde is planning to start Dembele in Barcelona's upcoming fixtures against Girona, Las Palmas, Espanyol and Málaga.
Valverde has faith that Dembele will step up to the plate and seize the opportunity handed to him in these games, as the manager puts the onus on the player to secure himself a place in the starting XI.
Dembele isn't having the best time of it at the moment, he arrived at Barcelona last summer as a replacement for Neymar, but he has barely played so far this season due to injury, missing four months with a hamstring problem.