Samuel Umtiti has said that new signing Ousmane Dembele has the right profile and talent to fill the shoes of Neymar at the Camp Nou.
Dembele completed a €105million move from Borussia Dortmund on Monday to replace Neymar, who joined Paris Saint-Germain in a world-record €222m deal earlier this month.
“I’m very glad he’s joining us. He is the type of player that we have missed since Neymar left,” Umtiti told reporters.
“He’s a very carefree person in relation to everything that happens, in relation to the talent he has. It’s one of his strengths and I hope he will help us to win titles.
“I cannot wait to see him. He is a player who will demonstrate his talent in our team, in our league.”
But his former Dortmund teammate Marc Bartra, a former Barca youth team player, tempered expectations by insisting that Dembele must be given time to settle in.
“Dembele is a pure talent, it’s a great signing,” Bartra told a news conference while on international duty with Spain.
“I know this from everything he has brought us last year [at Dortmund]. He is a very good player but he needs patience.
“He is very young and he cannot be compared to anyone — Neymar is among the best three players in the world.”
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