'Dembele does things similar to Zidane, Pele and Cruyff'

The legendary midfielder believes that the French winger has to be given more time to prove himself in a Barcelona shirt.

Dembele switched to the Catalan giant for a fee of £90 million last summer following the departure of Brazilian superstar Neymar from the club. 

However, he suffered with injuries last season and only managed to make 23 appearances in all competitions, scoring 4 goals.

Xavi, who played over 500 times for the club, believes that the young player should be given an opportunity to show his worth, telling 'Le Journal du Dimanche' that:

"He came to the club with a lot of pressure, when he needed time to mature,

"Barca are a very demanding challenge for a young player. His humility and desire to work hard play in his favour.

"He does the same things as Di Stefano, Pele, Cruyff, Maradona or Zidane at a time when the game doesn’t give you as much time to think as before."

Dembele is currently representing his country at the World Cup in Russia, who scraped past Australia in their opening fixture of the tournament.