Chelsea may well have been given some hope of clinching a transfer deal for Barcelona forward Ousmane Dembele.
The France international is heading towards the end of his contract at the Nou Camp, with Mundo Deportivo noting that Chelsea pushed the hardest to try and sign him on deadline day in January.
Further information from ESPN suggests Chelsea might not be too keen on Dembele’s wage demands, but if a deal can be agreed, the positive from their report is that Manchester United are no longer interested.
Dembele was a target for Man Utd during Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s time in charge, but ESPN state that that is no longer the case under interim boss Ralf Rangnick.
The 24-year-old could’ve been a decent replacement for Anthony Martial at Old Trafford, while some fans might also feel he’d be an upgrade on under-performers like Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford.
Still, Dembele has had a difficult time at Barcelona and whoever signs him could be taking a bit of a gamble.
Chelsea may end up deciding it’s a risk worth taking, with the Blues urgently in need of more quality in attack after some poor form from Timo Werner and Kai Havertz since they made big-money moves to Stamford Bridge.