Memphis Depay will have been thrilled to see Tottenham Hotspur’s approach for Moussa Dembele fail, telling Goal his teammate’s ruthless finishing skills make him a hugely important part of the Lyon project.
While the wheels haven’t come off just yet, it’s fair to say an OL side who knocked Manchester City and Juventus out of the Champions League last season weren’t expected to start the new campaign with one win in six matches.
But that is the reality.
Lyon are marooned in 14th place and their plight has coincided with a dramatic drop off from the man who scored those two famous goals against Pep Guardiola’s City in August.
Dembele has failed to find the net in any of Lyon’s six Ligue 1 matches this season.
However, captain Depay is fully expecting to see the France U21 star rediscover the form that saw him score 24 times last season sooner rather than later.
“We’ve got a number of talented players in the team,” the Holland superstar explains. “I’m happy that Houssem Aouar will stay with us.
“I know Moussa Dembele has a great capacity to score goals and he will score them. It’s up to the team to do what it takes.”
Get France Football News reported last week that Tottenham tried to sign the £20 million centre-forward on loan with an obligation-to-buy clause before turning their attention to Benfica’s Carlos Vinicius.
Former Fulham youngster Dembele was keen on a return to London but Lyon coach Rudi Garcia blocked the deal.
Tottenham Hotspur’s record signings
- Tanguy Ndombele
£56 million
- Davinson Sanchez
£42 million
- Moussa Sissoko
£30 million
- Erik Lamela
£29 million
- Steven Bergwijn
£25 million
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