Breaking Down What Ousmane Dembele Will Bring to Borussia Dortmund

On Thursday, only two days after officially losing team captain Mats Hummels to bitter rivals Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund announced the signing of Ousmane Dembele from Stade Rennes on a five-year contract. According to Matthias Dersch of local paper Ruhr Nachrichten (link in German), Dortmund will pay an initial fee of €15 million for the attacker.

Considering the fierce competition the Black and Yellows fought off in capturing Dembele's signature, fans have to be excited about the new arrival. Per the Guardian's Ed Aarons, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City, Leicester City, Liverpool, Barcelona and Bayern were all interested in the France under-21 international.

Dortmund's officials spoke highly of Dembele's character in the club's official statement.

"I have nothing but respect when I see how many high-profile offers from all over Europe Ousmane has turned back and how he has stood firm about his commitment to BVB over such a long period of time," sporting director Michael Zorc said.

"He has always given us the impression that he does not wish for anything else other than to play our intensive football for our special club in our unique stadium," chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke added.

This level of maturity from a teenager—Dembele turned 19 on Sunday—alone should be enough to get fans excited, but his qualities go far beyond having his head on straight.

Despite only debuting in the French top flight in November, the versatile attacker has put together an impressive campaign for Rennes. Scoring 12 and assisting another five goals, per Transfermarkt.co.uk, on his way to winning the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year award, Dembele displayed a lot of qualities that will help Dortmund early in his Bundesliga career.

His technical abilities are plain to see. Fantastic close control and short-area quickness make him one of the best dribblers in Europe, as this graphic shows:

Spielverlagerung.com's Constantin Eckner noted that "the variety of his dribbling techniques gives him the opportunity of adapting his moves in one-on-ones to the environment and the actions of his opponent."

As the video that tactics blogger Tom Payne tweeted shows, Dembele can go past a defender in any direction, be it to create an opportunity for himself or a team-mate:

This is largely down to his remarkable two-footedness. Look at how smoothly he transitions from stopping the ball with his left to shooting with his right foot, forcing a good save out of Bastia's Jean-Louis Leca at the weekend:

His two-footedness also allows the 19-year-old to play in a variety of roles. This season, he featured on both wings, in attacking midfield and as a supporting striker. This versatility will make him a valuable member of the squad for Dortmund from day one.

Expectations are very high, but some growing pains could be in order.

The Ligue 1 is not at the Bundesliga's level, and Dembele will also get his first taste of the UEFA Champions League with the Black and Yellows. His new head coach, Thomas Tuchel, isn't afraid, however, per Bundesliga.com.

"Youngsters know how things work here: great fans, packed stadia and a lot of attention—but Dembele's ready to play in the Bundesliga," Tuchel said. "He's a technically gifted player and a real goal threat."

The best talents rarely have major adjustment problems. One player Dortmund fans can look at as an encouraging role model for Dembele is Manchester United's Anthony Martial. The 20-year-old left Monaco as a fairly inexperienced prodigy in 2015 and has been one of the few bright spots for Louis van Gaal this season.

As the graphic from Football Radars shows, Dembele has arguably been more impressive than Martial was in his final Ligue 1 campaign:

Even if Dembele should struggle with adapting to life in a new league, Dortmund have the luxury of being able to bring him up to speed slowly, as he doesn't have to become a starter immediately.

With a coach such as Tuchel working with him, there's no reason why Dembele shouldn't be a massive success for Dortmund.

Lars Pollmann is a Featured Columnist writing on Borussia Dortmund. He also writes for YellowWallPod.com. You can follow him on Twitter.