Ousmane Dembélé And Philippe Coutinho: The Worst $250M Ever Spent?

After a year-and-a-half together at the Camp Nou, it’s likely that Ousmane Dembélé and Philippe Coutinho have ended their time together as teammates on the pitch. 

Coutinho, of course, has joined Bayern Munich on a season-long loan deal with an option to buy, and the 27-year-old Brazilian has already outlined his vision of staying in Bavaria for the long haul. Meanwhile Dembélé may yet find himself as additional makeweight in a deal that allows Neymar to return from Paris Saint-Germain — a possibility that’s been heightened by another hamstring injury that's ruled the 22-year-old Frenchman out for five weeks. 

It’s a sequence of events that would highlight the duo’s combined $250 million price tag as one of the worst pieces of business in the history of the game. 

Across all competitions, Dembélé and Coutinho appeared in 35 matches together, over the course of which Barcelona recorded a record of 25 wins, seven draws and only three defeats. It’s an impressive enough return, but it should be noted that the two were only trusted to start together in matches that Barça expected to steamroll the opposition.

The Blaugrana scored 92 goals in those 35 games, but they also conceded 35. In those matches, Dembélé scored 13 goals — one of which was assisted by Coutinho — and the Brazilian scored 12 — three of which were provided by the Frenchman.

But they were never going to be a duo — both prefer the left wing position. Although Dembélé is two-footed and can play on the right, there’s obviously a certain Lionel Messi who’s stationed there. Coutinho, on the other hand, isn’t an orthodox winger, but he also wasn’t “the next Andrés Iniesta” and able to operate on the left-hand side of midfield.

So the pair’s time at the Camp Nou was essentially a competition, and it’s one that Dembélé basically won by default. Over the course of his two years with Barcelona, the Frenchman has really only been available for selection half of the time due to various injuries. According to Transfermarkt, he’s missed 44 games since signing in 2017.

But it says everything about the torrid time Coutinho experienced at the Camp Nou that in the midst of Dembélé being out for three weeks last February — handing start after start to the Brazilian — Barcelona assistant coach Jon Aspiazu still said, “It’s true that Philippe is not at the same level as he was last season and that Dembélé has moved ahead of him slightly.”

Dembélé cemented his place without playing.

To watch Coutinho last season was akin to watching Ángel Di María at Manchester United or Memphis Depay at Manchester United or Alexis Sánchez at Manchester United.

Like a classic piece of young-adult literature, a case of body swapping appeared to be the only explanation for how such an obviously talented player could suddenly look so awful: Had the real Coutinho's spirit been shifted to an 8-year-old sat inside the Camp Nou while the unsuspecting child suddenly found himself tasked with breaking down Levante? That must be it. 

With Coutinho largely defined as a playmaker — a footballer that needs to drift inside and operate with the team setup around him — it’s been widely accepted that the Brazilian and Messi simply could not play together. Take a look at Messi’s average heat map for the 2018-19 season and it’s pretty obvious as to why. He's playing more centrally than ever before.

Messi's average position in possession throughout the 2018-19 season. Photo: Givemesport.com

And the stats back up this theory.

Coutinho and Messi appeared on the pitch together in 62 games. In those games, Messi scored 62 goals but only three were assisted by Coutinho. Coutinho, on the other hand, only managed 13 goals with three being assisted by Messi. In total, they jointly participated in six goals in 3,470 minutes of action, or an average of one joint goal per 578 minutes.

Meanwhile, Messi and Dembélé have played in 50 games together. In those games, Messi has scored 53 goals with four of them being provided by the Frenchman. Dembélé has scored 17 goals with seven of them being setup by Messi. In total, they jointly participated in 11 goals in 2,528 minutes of action, or an average of one joint goal per 230 minutes.

This shows why Barcelona needs a more orthodox winger on the left, and why the club was quick to shift Coutinho while reluctant to allow Dembélé to leave. And how does Dembélé compare with the man he originally replaced? 

Messi and Neymar played 161 games together. In those games, Messi scored 149 goals with 35 coming from Neymar feeds. Neymar scored 82 goals with 20 being provided by Messi. In total, they jointly participated in 55 goals in 12,716 minutes of action, or an average of one joint goal per 231 minutes.

As you can see, there’s not a whole lot of difference between Messi-Dembélé and Messi-Neymar, except Neymar was available for selection much more frequently while at Barcelona. 

That, of course, hasn’t been the case with Neymar at PSG, where he’s missed 48 games since 2017 (again, Dembélé’s missed 44). So it’s impossible to say what direction Barcelona should take before the transfer window closes on Monday, Sept. 2. (Or how, exactly, Antoine Griezmann is going to fit in.)

What’s easier to say is that Barcelona has done a pretty awful job in the transfer market over the past four years.