Ousmane Dembele reportedly wants to join Premier League runners-up Liverpool if La Liga champions Barcelona sell him this summer.
If you believe Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu, Ousmane Dembele has already overtaken football’s swaggering show pony Neymar. It’s not even close, he claims.
“We are happy with what we have, as Dembele is better than Neymar and he is a good professional player,” Bartomeu told TVE, in quotes reported by Goal, back in April.
“He is a young guy who arrived at a huge club and that’s not easy, but he has adapted and he is much better than Neymar.”
Now, whether this was merely an attempt to stop the rumour mill spinning out of control once again heading into the summer transfer window is anyone’s guess.
Barcelona, after all, are guaranteed to spend the next few months being tipped to bring Neymar back to the Camp Nou from Paris Saint-Germain.
But, putting this potential gamesmanship to one side, Bartomeu’s comments highlight just how remarkable a talent Dembele really is.
According to TEAMtalk, however, Barca could be forced to sell a player they bought from Borussia Dortmund for £90 million two years ago. The Catalan giants want to finance a deal for Antoine Griezmann and the Atletico Madrid talisman’s two-footed countryman could be the sacrificial lamb.
TEAMtalk adds that Dembele would love to join none other than Liverpool if he is indeed forced out of the Camp Nou.
And while it would take something very special to oust Mo Salah, Roberto Firmino or Mo Salah in Jurgen Klopp’s starting XI, a player who is ‘much better than Neymar’ would stand a better chance than most.
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