Left winger Dembele joined United from Birmingham City for an undisclosed fee on Thursday, with it understood the figure paid is a club record for the U’s.

Dembele made his debut earlier than expected, replacing Matt Phillips, who was forced off with injury after 34 minutes against Preston North End.

READ ALSO: U’s boss happy to see side recover from rocky start to overcome North End

Buckingham said of Dembele: “He’s another player that when you get the ball to his feet, people get out of their seats because you know something might be coming.

“He only trained with us Thursday lightly and then fully on Friday, so he’s still got to learn what we do and how he can operate within that, but you’ve already seen the ability he has as an individual, and the excitement he was with the ball at his feet.

“If we can add that other bit to him, where he can work with the others, it’ll be not just an exciting Dembele, but a very exciting left-hand side.”

Buckingham added: “He’s got the ability to slow you down, to go back past you. He has the pace where he can run you first time or slow you down, to go by you again.

“He showed that, and it does two things. It allows you to get in behind and threaten to get in behind, which drops the backline off, or when he’s got the ball at his feet, he’s unpredictable, which for defenders, is quite tricky.

“Recognising when to tackle or maybe stand off, and it just allows you to get up the pitch a little bit more.”