When Ousmane Dembele landed integrated at Red Bull Salzburg
FC Barcelona’s Ousmane Dembele is one of the bigger stars in world football. The 25-year-old almost ended up at Red Bull Salzburg. The thriller behind the fast transfer.
Gérard Houllier has known for a long time. Few football luminaries know the French player market as well as the former Global Sports Director of Red Bull GmbH, who died in Paris in December 2020. Houllier coached Lyon, Paris Saint-Germain, RC Lens, the French national team and various youngsters from the Équipe Tricolore and has proven excellent contacts with the likes of Arsene Wenger and Michel Platini. He should land the greatest talents of the Les Bleus for Red Bull. And acted more aggressively than many sports directors in France liked.
The former midfielder was instrumental in the signings of Sadio Mané, Naby Keïta and Dayot Upamecano, all of whom came from France. However, he missed what is probably his biggest transfer for Salzburg. Early in 2015, Houllier became aware of a highly gifted winger with a lot of potential: Ousmane Dembele. But Dembele, then just before his 18th birthday, was only allowed to secure his talent in the U18 at Stade Rennes.
Red Bull Salzburg tried everything on Ousmane Dembele
Houllier made the commitment of the nimble offensive player a mission. At least he saw a bit of Sadio Mane in him. And so in June he offered 600,000 euros for Dembele on behalf of Red Bull Salzburg. Stade Rennes declined. A month later, Salzburg add: 2.2 million euros for Dembele. Around 400,000 euros more than Manchester City was willing to pay. At least reported dying L’Equipe back then.
During this period, Dembele also visited the Bulls’ state-of-the-art training complex in Salzburg-Taxham. And Dembele was impressed. But one was not happy: Stade Rennes President René Ruello. “What’s the point of spending millions on training young players when guys like this come and plunder our training centers?” Ruello raged in the French medium So foot. “I am shocked at how Houllier is maneuvering this club (Red Bull Salzburg, note). Houllier wrote to me that he would buy the player. But I said ‘no’. We will fight for him. He still has two years of contract, that he has to respect.”
Ousmane Dembele wanted to go to Salzburg
In the weeks and months that followed, Ruello continued to star the local Brittany media to expose Houllier’s unloved course of action. Meanwhile, Dembele has long since decided to move to Salzburg. Death reported in a story entitled “La Grande Offensive de Salzburg”. L’Equipe of the upcoming change. Compatriot Upamecano did some convincing. Sadio Mane, who was already playing in Southampton at the time, also gave Dembele his recommendation for Red Bull over the phone. At Salzburg, Dembele should play in the first team straight away and ideally develop in a similar way to today’s Bayern Munich key player.
“I want to go to a club that trusts me 100 percent,” complained the now 25-year-old Dembele about the lack of playing time with the professionals in the L’Equipe. “I won’t change my mind. The Bundesliga may be a small league in Europe, but here I can play for the pros. And not for the U21s of a big club.” But Dembele reckoned without his club. In a broadcast, Stade Rennes put a stop to a change. “We will continue to work with him. He will fulfill his contract until 2017.” Dembele’s protests were unsuccessful. Rennes stayed firm.
Stubbornness paid off for Stade Rennes
And that should be worthwhile for both parties. Dembele acceded to his club’s wish and signed a new three-year contract at Stade Rennes in early October 2015. About three weeks later he made his Ligue 1 debut against SCO Angers. Unexpected powers were unleashed: In his first 26 league games he scored twelve goals and prepared five more. From Bayern Munich to Real Madrid, in the summer of 2016, the crème de la crème of European football sought out Dembele.
He opted for perspective and playing time and switched to Borussia Dortmund for a reported 15 million euros. His rise continues in the Ruhr area. Dembele collected ten goals and 22 assists in 50 games for the black and yellow and continued to increase his market value. What followed is history: Astronomical 140 million euros monitoring FC Barcelona in the summer of 2017 for Dembele on the table. The 27-time French team player has not always been able to exploit his potential. Despite numerous surprises, the Catalans have at least 154 games on their CV – including 66 points and a lucrative contract extension last July. What Red Bull remains: At least it was known beforehand that he was one of the talented players in world football.