Barcelona have been given hope in their pursuit of Borussia Dortmund’s Ousmane Dembele, but they must meet the asking price from the Bundesliga giants.
The Catalan giants have been desperately scrambling for a top signing this month after losing Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain, but their efforts to land either Dembele or Liverpool playmaker Philippe Coutinho have failed thus far.
Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc has commented on Dembele’s situation, and has reiterated that they will only sell the 20-year-old if their valuation of him is met by an interested party.
“Dembele is currently in France,” he told Sky Germany, as seen in the tweets below. “We are in contact with him via an employee.”
“We have a certain asking price. If [Barcelona] matches that, there will be a transfer. If not, then no.
“We will surely not wait until the last day [of the transfer window]. Currently, there is no offer that would allow us to make that transfer.”
Michael Zorc bei @SkySportDE: "Wir haben eine klare Position. Wird sie erfüllt, wird @Dembouz noch in diesem Sommer transferiert." (1/2) pic.twitter.com/6h37HsnWeE
— Borussia Dortmund (@BVB) August 19, 2017
"Wird sie nicht erfüllt, bleibt er beim BVB. Wir werden mit dieser Entscheidung nicht in den letzten Transfertag gehen." #LT (2/2) pic.twitter.com/01ZxJqfaa1
— Borussia Dortmund (@BVB) August 19, 2017
As reported by Mundo Deportivo, it’s claimed that Dembele will cost Barcelona in excess of €100m and he would undoubtedly be a key addition to Ernesto Valverde’s squad as he has been hugely impressive for Dortmund in a short space of time.
The French international scored 10 goals and registered 21 assists in 49 appearances last season, and although his behaviour this summer in terms of getting that move to Barcelona hasn’t been particularly positive, there’s no doubting his talent on the pitch.
Should Barca eventually reach a deal with Dortmund for Dembele though, that will be a major boost for Liverpool in terms of their hopes of keeping Coutinho. The Reds remain adamant that they will not sell the 25-year-old, and Barcelona signing Dembele would more than likely end that conversation once and for all.