Xavi compared him to Neymar, Chelsea love him, and England must be wary of France’s unpredictable secret weapon Ousmane Dembele, who doesn’t even know his strongest foot

It’s rare a player is so good they don’t know which foot is their best, but that’s the case for Ousmane Dembele – who’s finally realising his potential.

Going under the radar at the Qatar World Cup with France teammates Kylian Mbappe and Olivier Giroud taking the headlines, Dembele could send England packing if they fail to track him.

And that will be no easy task either, given one of his first interviews in football while a teenager at Rennes showed how unpredictable his game can be.

“Are you right or left-footed?” a reporter asked.

“Hmm, left-footed,” Dembele replied.

“Are you sure because you also score with your right foot?” the reporter continued.

“Yeah, I’m more left-footed, yeah,” Dembele said.

“But why do you shoot penalties with your right?” he was questioned.

“Because I shoot better with my right foot,” Dembele replied, completely deadpan.

The thing with Dembele, though, is it’s not just which foot he’s better with that baffles reporters, it’s his position, role in the team, and whether or not he even likes football.

Bursting onto the scene at talent factory Rennes as a child prodigy in 2015, Borussia Dortmund did what they always do best – showcased again with Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham – offering the Frenchman regular minutes and a stepping stone to the very top of the game.

However, unlike a number of starlets who have trodden the same path as him, including successor Jadon Sancho, Dembele didn’t get the time to settle and improve in Germany, with his talent too good to turn down.

Barcelona could hardly wait after losing Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain for €222million [£198m], and instantly reinvested the entirety of that sum on Philippe Coutinho and Dembele.

And while Coutinho’s half unsurprisingly dominated as he flopped before leaving for Bayern Munich and Aston Villa, Dembele had a rough journey, but may finally be proving his worth.

Now finding the form of his Barca career under Xavi Hernandez, the manager can’t stop talking about him.

“He is happy, enjoying himself, content, he is important for me, for the group… He makes the difference, assists, scores, he is a knife and he is in a good moment,” Xavi recently said.

“I don’t want to shower him in praise but the capacity he has in the one-on-one is at the level of the best Neymar. He has to be more bold, shoot at goal more and score.

“He is a good kid and he has to take advantage of these characteristics. He is capable of making the difference and he is doing so.”

After a different match, Xavi also said: “He has a unique talent. He has to try, even if he loses balls, I oblige him to take on defenders one-on-one in attacking areas of the field.

“This player, he’s different from the others, he’s unique. He has to dribble, try things, cross…”

Dembele now has four goals and five assists for LaLiga leaders Barcelona, and has provided another two assists for France at the World Cup as he makes the right side of the pitch his own.

That’s something he’s done in extraordinary fashion back in Catalunya too, becoming far more than just a winger that cuts in and shoots, and now arguably Barca’s best playmaker with an incredible passing range.

It took plenty of tough love to get here though, with Dembele another young but high-profile star who was far more concerned with gaming than football.

Spanish media were outraged that the now 25-year-old was late for training and games as he stayed at home in front of the TV with his controller, and that nearly ended in a messy divorce.

With Barcelona under serious pressure during the summer to reduce players’ wages in order to invest, Dembele was targeted by the club’s hierarchy in the media for wanting to keep the money he was owed.

Sporting director Matheu Alemany said Dembele ‘must leave the club as soon as possible’ while Xavi added: “Dembele is important but it is a club decision and we all agree on it – I don’t think his absence has impacted the team.”

That was music to the ears of his former Dortmund boss Thomas Tuchel, who was desperate to bring him to Chelsea, but eventually, Dembele agreed on new terms.

Releasing a statement ahead of his re-signing, he wrote: “For four years gossip about me has been built up, there have been shameful lies about me for the sole purpose of harming me.

“I have never responded, but today it’s over.

“I am going to answer without giving in to any kind of blackmail, I dismiss anyone who thinks that I’m not committed to the sporting project, I’m still under contract and I’m fully involved and at the disposal of my coach, I’m not a man who gives in to blackmail.”

Despite the clear signs that his Barca career was on the brink of collapse, he’s now one of their most important players, and the same can be said for France.

And unlike many others during his career, England will have to make sure they don’t underestimate France’s secret weapon.