The official Barcelona website, fcbarcelona.com has reported their record signing, Ousmane Dembele, has sustained an injury which will leave the 20-year-old on the sidelines for the next four months.

The French forward hobbled off the pitch in the 29th minute, making way for academy graduate, Gerard Deulofeu.

The club's statement highlights the young forward has ruptured 'his tendon in the femoral bicep of his left thigh', therefore Dembele will not feature in any competitive football until the turn of the new year.

Failed to impress

Since his arrival in Spain, Dembele has failed to make a significant impact on his team's performances, unlike Neymar.

The Frenchmen has yet to score for the Blaugrana and it will be a considerable amount of time until the Catalan faithful see their star man hit the back of the net.

Within his most recent fixtures, he featured in Barcelona's 3-0 victory over Champions League finalists Juventus and only lasted 29 minutes against Getafe. Furthermore, the Frenchman will miss the remaining fixtures of his national team's qualification matches ahead of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Despite receiving plenty of criticism upon his arrival in Catalonia for being 'over-priced' and his worrying attempt of juggling a ball at his welcoming ceremony, the Frenchmen actually does have a lot to offer.

Dembele, 20, averaged 3.2 dribbles per game last season within the Bundesliga which was the highest in the division, second to that was RB Leipzig's Naby Keita with 2.7 dribbles.

This is particularly promising as Barcelona legend, Lionel Messi, averaged 3.5 dribbles last season are therefore producing similar numbers within the creative department.

A creative forward

Interestingly, whilst at Borussia Dortmund, last season, Dembele on average was dispossessed 1.9 times per game. While on the other hand, the likes of Lionel Messi and Neymar lost the ball 2.6 and 2.8 times a game on average.

Therefore, the French forward has proven that he is a creative forward but still persists a pragmatic approach when it comes to retaining the ball.

Nonetheless, Dembele has incredibly large shoes to fill. Towards the tail end of his Barcelona career, Neymar became an integral figure within the Catalan's 'MSN' strike force. In addition to this, his creative output is unrivalled by anybody within the division.

During the 2016/17 campaign, Neymar on average produced 5.6 dribbles per match, which is considerably higher than the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. In addition to this, he contributed to a goal within La Liga every 110 minutes.

Will Dembele be able to replicate this kind of form? Well, we'll have to wait until January.