The France star is the obvious replacement for the teenager on the left wing, but having to rely on the 23-year-old is never a good position to be in
Ousmane Dembele is not just drinking in the last-chance saloon at Barcelona. He is now living there.
For well over a year, Barca have been on the verge of cutting their considerable losses on a player signed from Borussia Dortmund in 2017 for a staggering €105 million (£94m/$124m).
Yet the opportunities to rescue his Camp Nou career keep coming, and Ansu Fati’s knee injury has provided Dembele with yet another ‘last chance’ to finally prove his worth in Catalunya.
The news that teenage sensation Fati has been ruled out until March has come as a hammer blow to Barca.