Not worth it: Chelsea advised against signing Dembele

Former Chelsea goalkeeper, Shaka Hislop, has reacted to the club’s decision to sign Ousmane Dembele from Barcelona this summer.

According to Hislop, the move is a bad idea and is not worth it.

Dembele, who became a free agent after his contract with Barcelona expired at the end of June is one of the players Chelsea are interested in.

The Blues’ interest in the France World Cup winner is as a result of his impressive form under manager Thomas Tuchel at Borussia Dortmund before his £126 million move to Barcelona back in 2017.

Going by the massive wage Dembele would get at Chelsea, Hislop insisted that the 25-year-old winger is not worthy of that.

“If I am Chelsea, at the numbers that apparently Dembele is after, I am not sure that it is worth it,” Hislop told ESPN.

“Dembele is after an awful lot of money and while he has shown that he can be worth that in the last six months of last season, that is all we have seen from Dembele.

“The question then becomes how big a gamble do you want to take? Is it the Dembele that we saw for two and a half years? Or the Dembele that we saw in the last six months?”

He added, “I just think that is a very expensive gamble for a player where you are not quite sure how he fits in.

“Money no object I take the chance, but given the kind of money Dembele is supposedly asking for, if I’m Chelsea, I’m a little bit reluctant.”