Ousmane Dembélé ‘has similar qualities to Neymar,’ says former coach

Philippe Montainer, the man who gave young Ousmane Dembélé a shot at Rennes has spoken out about his former player. Montainer asks Barcelona fans to be patient with Dembélé and his growth at the club.

“Ousmane has had a much different path than say Mbappe, who had time to grow at Monaco. It makes a difference. Ousmane played at Rennes for 6-7 months, a year at Dortmund and now he’s at Barça. It’s incredible. You just need to be patient with him,” he said.

“He has a lot of quality and is technically very good too. He can shoot, dribble and cross from his left or right foot, which isn’t common at the highest level.”

Philippe Montainer | Source

Montainer also carried on to compare Dembélé to Neymar. The player comparison is pretty accurate for Dembélé on his best day, and overall this was a promising series of quotes from Dembélé’s former boss.

“He’s a player of the highest quality with a profile similar to Neymar,” he said.

“He’s got the ability to make the difference: he can unsettle teams. There aren’t many like him. Plus, he loves to combine with his teammates. He’s a complete player. His mentality is great too. That’s why I think people can expect so much from him because of his determination and perseverance. He know what he wants.”