10 players whose transfer fee didn't match their talents

#4 Ousmane Dembele - £97m (Borussia Dortmund to Barcelona, 2017)

Ousmane Dembele was still young and raw when Barcelona made him the second-most expensive player ever

The story of Ousmane Dembele’s mega-money transfer to Barcelona is remarkably similar to the story of how Andy Carroll was signed by Liverpool; like the Reds, Barca had sold a key player – in this case Neymar – for a huge transfer fee (£198m), and wanted to make an impact by spending an equally huge amount on a replacement.

And just like Liverpool, La Blaugrana made a risky move, choosing a young and talented, albeit raw and unproven player.

France’s Dembele had spent just 1 season at Borussia Dortmund, and while he’d performed well – scoring 6 goals and registering 12 assists in 32 appearances – frankly he’d done nothing to suggest that he was worth £97m (€105m), making him at the time the second-most expensive player in the game’s history.

That didn’t stop Barca, though, who splashed out the huge fee on the forward, who had only just turned 20 years old. And despite winning two La Liga titles since his arrival in Spain, the move hasn’t exactly paid off for Dembele; injuries and dips in form have restricted him to just 75 appearances for the club, while his goal return of 19 has also been relatively unimpressive.

Dembele still has time to become a success at the Nou Camp, but as his injuries build up and the Barca fans lose patience, it’s looking less and less likely. Sadly, the Frenchman is definitely an example of a player whose transfer fee simply didn’t represent the level he was at when he was transferred.