Philippe Coutinho arrived at Barcelona last January from Liverpool in what was a deal that the Catalans had wanted since the summer of 2017.
Ousmane Dembele had moved to the club six months prior to the Brazilian but due to a serious injury he sustained early on, he never really joined up with the squad consistently until January.
A year on and the Azulgrana are still waiting to see the best from the duo.
The club's commitment to both has been enormous and across the two transfers, the amount received from Paris Saint-Germain for Neymar has been spent and the two have become the most expensive players in the club's history.
Coutinho cost 120 million euros, while Dembele was 105 million, with an additional 80 million of variables a real possibility on top of that.
So far, neither Dembele or Coutinho have justified their fee and Ernesto Valverde still shows his confidence in them.
They have flashes of brilliance, but no consistency and their defensive efforts leave a lot to be desired and the patience the club has shown has a limit.
In this sense, Dembele is playing with fire with his off-field behaviour, but Valverde is keeping his trust in the French international.
However, if you look at their numbers, Dembele boasts better figures than Coutinho and the ex-Borussia Dortmund star has more goals and assists despite playing fewer minutes.
What's more is that Dembele's goals have been decisive and important, contributing as much as Lionel Messi or Luis Suarez.
The case of Coutinho is worrisome though and he hasn't exploded yet despite Valverde's trust.
Last term he showed his ability little by little but one really great game is yet to arrive, despite showing moments here and there.
Both are lacking in their defensive contributions and the two are guilty of overindulging in attack.
Barcelona are still waiting for the two players to explode and in the case of Dembele there are already reports that he could be allowed to leave, despite the club denying it outright.
The problem facing the club is the sheer size of their investment and even if they do sell the Frenchman they will have to pay 40 million euros to Dortmund to cover the variables in place in the agreement.
moreethegreat
265
in the field dembele is better than coutinho and performing better and the only thing that makes coutinho looks better is that he is given more time
evilsam
213
Coutinho was amazing last last season: even for Barcelona. He scored a lot of goals in very little matches even while starting in midfield. Somehow having a place in the team has made him complacent and lowered his work rate now that he doesn't have to compete against Iniesta. Dembele on the other hand has a point to prove. Even with his childish and naive behaviour off the field he steps on it fighting for his place and to secure a future. That's why clubs create competition among players. Even with all its disadvantages it makes sure the players give their maximum at all times. If Malcolm gets to prove himself and Dembele does prove himself we could be back to seeing Coutinho at his best
BernardIgnatius
182
it's evident from recent matches that dembele has been decisive in least 3 games for barca as for coutinho... okay i'm no expert but i think coutinho's maybe just maybe kinda off sometimes... he's just not decisive enough although he's an amazing player but he' got to up his level to make barca more dangerous than it already is.. anyways he's a star so pretty sure he'll improve from great to greater..