LaLiga: Three reasons why Ousmane Dembele must play a key role this season for Barcelona

#2 He is a viable alternative for goals

Dembele has scored two goals already this season

In Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, Barcelona has two of the most lethal forwards ever seen, and the pair combined with Neymar to form the deadly 'MSN' trio scoring a staggering 250 goals in 299 appearances between them in all competitions during the three years they spent together.

Neymar's world record transfer to PSG in August 2017 broke up the triumvirate, and this had a telling effect on Barcelona, as the Brazilian is one of the most lethal attacking threats in the world.

The club's goals department took an expected hit with Neymar's departure, as the Camp Nou outfit scored just 99 La Liga goals last term compared to the 116 goals scored in Neymar's last season at the club in 2017.

Messi is a prime goalscorer in his own right, and the mercurial Argentine holds the record for most European Golden Shoes won with five, however, he is also the world's premier creator, and the decline in Barcelona's midfield prowess owing to the departures of Xavi and Iniesta has continuously seen Messi drop deeper in an attempt to initiate play from midfield. This has conversely led to a decrease in Messi's goal tally, which though are still impressive enough to win him Golden Boots, are significantly lower than the figures he posted earlier in his career.

Also, Luis Suarez for all his brilliance is starting to show signs of struggles. He underwent a goal drought of 479 minutes in all competitions without scoring last season, while he went over a year without getting a Champions League goal for Barcelona between their 6-1 comeback triumph over PSG in 2017 and their 4-1 quarter-final first leg victory over Roma in March 2018.

While there is no denying that on his day he can still guarantee the goals, a club of Barcelona's stature requires its strikers to be firing on all cylinders in at least every other game to remain competitive, and this is where Ousmane Dembele could come in.

Although it would be foolish to put him in the same bracket as Neymar, the 21-year-old is still a decent attacker in his own right. He scored a total of 10 goals in 50 appearances for Dortmund in his sole season with them, and is a pretty good provider of assists.

Dembele could help ease the pressure of goalscoring from Messi and Suarez, as he has shown so far this season that he has the capacity to pop up with the odd match-winning goal, and at just 21, there is massive room for improvement, and Valverde would do well to give the pacy winger the platform to do so.