With just 11 days remaining of the transfer window, Barcelona have told Ousmane Dembele he must leave with Newcastle and Tottenham keen.
What’s the story?
Well, this is big news, and it will be interesting to see if Newcastle and Tottenham react to it.
Mateu Alemany – Director of Football at Barcelona – revealed Barcelona have been trying to agree a new contract with Dembele for nearly seven months.
As quoted by Sky Sports, the Spaniard said: “With Ousmane and with his agents, we began conversations in the month of July, during all this time, it has been six months almost seven months, we have talked, we have spoken, Barca has made different offers, we have tried to find a way for him to continue with us. Those offers have been systematically rejected by their agents.
“In this scenario, he and his agents have been told that he must leave immediately, because we want players committed to this project, and therefore we expect a transfer before January 31st.”
By the sounds of it, Barcelona are not happy.
Sky Sports believe the 24-year-old turned down a new deal after being offered a lower salary – he has now been left out of the squad by Xavi for today’s clash with Athletic Bilbao.
It comes after 90min revealed that Newcastle are keen to sign the 27-cap France international, as they look to stay in the Premier League.
Elsewhere, it was Tutto Mercato Web who believe Tottenham are interested in the man Barcelona paid £135m for.
Newcastle and Tottenham must be wary of Ousmane Dembele
At Borussia Dortmund, Dembele was one of the best forwards in Europe.
In his final season at the Signal Iduna Park – the 2016/17 campaign – he scored ten goals and provided an incredible 21 assists.
However, Dembele has been a disaster since joining Barcelona, scoring just 31 goals in 129 appearances.
That works out at roughly £4.4m per goal based on his £135m price tag.
Marca also reveal that Dembele has been fined by Xavi for turning up late to training, while he was also fined and suspended during his time at Borussia Dortmund.
Tottenham already have some questionable characters in their squad, whereas Newcastle can’t carry any bad apples during a relegation battle.
Of course, Dembele is a wonderfully talented forward who’s now available for a cut-price fee, although there are many things for Antonio Conte and Eddie Howe to consider.
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