Because of financial fair play regulations, it often takes one big transfer to trigger another. According to reports, Barcelona want Man City to sign Ousmane Dembele to help their own quest to bring Neymar back to Spain.
A story in Don Balon has reported that Barca have been trying to convince Man City that Dembele could be the perfect replacement for Leroy Sane, if they allowed him to move on.
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It’s not clear how much the Catalan side would want for the Frenchman, given The BBC reported they agreed a fee of up to £135.5m when he signed from Borussia Dortmund.
Last month The Mirror reported Barcelona had set an asking price of £94m for the winger, so they could be prepared to take a loss if it meant they could bring Neymar back.
If Barca were to bring Neymar back, it would also cause a problem for another one of their star players. Unless one was to play out of position, then either Luis Suarez or Antoine Griezmann would find themselves on the bench to accommodate the Brazilian.
The other alternative would be to drop Messi deeper into midfield, but given he is the most important player that also seems an unlikely solution.
Clearly the Spanish Champions need to sell some players to fund Neymar’s return, and The BBC reported yesterday that Pep Guardiola hopes to keep Sane in Manchester, so something will have to change to start the chain of events that would allow the PSG man to leave.