Neymar could fix the failures of Coutinho and Dembélé

Following Coutinho's sad departure through the back door (on loan) after an awful time at Barça, Dembele picked up yet another injury. He's been injured five times and missed 44 matches. If the most optimistic of recovery times prove to be true, you can add another seven to that.

Dembele's main problem isn't the matches he's missed or his failure to adapt to the rhythm needed. It's rather that, despite some incredible moments in a Barça shirt, he doesn't appear capable of returning the faith shown in him by the club.

No one doubts Dembele's talent, nor his explosive speed, but there are serious doubts over whether he's capable of maintaining the high level a club such as Barça demands. So many injuries point to a lack of professionalism, alongside his lapses of concentration on the pitch, as Pique remonstrated to him in the late defeat at San Mames.

The Frenchman's weaknesses

As people search for others to blame, some suggest Abidal has failed to accompany and guide Dembele. Despite the youngster being perfectly capable of following certain codes of conduct. However, Abidal had nothing to do with his arrival in 2017 and has, in fact, been working to restore some balance to the side after the amount of money which was spent to bring in the French winger and Coutinho.

It was a summer in which the vice president, Jordi Mestre, said Neymar would stay "200%". On the same day SPORT revealed how the saga was going to play out and he later authorised the signings of Dembele and Coutinho.

The problem is the person responsible for all those decisions is no longer at the club and the ones who replaced him have tried, as much as they can, to resolve those errors. That is why Barça are exploring every possibility they can in order to bring Neymar home and, as for the player himself, get the club back on track.