Barcelona president Joan Laporta has made an intriguing claim about the future of Ousmane Dembele following plenty of transfer rumours involving the player in January.
In the end, the France international didn’t seal a move away from Barcelona, despite being just months away from the end of his contract and with speculation that he had a number of suitors in for him.
The Independent linked Dembele with Arsenal on deadline day, while he’d also previously been mentioned as a possible target for Manchester United by Spanish outlet Marca.
Could one of those clubs be who Laporta is talking about in his quote tweeted by Fabrizio Romano below?
Barcelona president Joan Laporta reveals: “We think Ousmane Dembélé has an agreement in place with another club”. ??? #FCB
“He didn’t want to leave the club in January. It’s really difficult to understand his position, makes no sense for him and for the club”. pic.twitter.com/8FUenLc4w2
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) February 1, 2022
Dembele may well have something in place even if he didn’t move yesterday, and it will be interesting to see if he ends up in the Premier League.
The 24-year-old looked a huge prospect at former club Borussia Dortmund, but it never quite worked out for him at Barca.
Still, there’s surely room for more attacking options in this Arsenal squad after the departure of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and the poor form of Nicolas Pepe.
United, meanwhile, would also probably do well to strengthen in that department after a lack of impact made by Jadon Sancho, while Anthony Martial left for a loan move to Sevilla this January, and Jesse Lingard is out of contract in the summer.