Earlier on Monday, it was claimed that Chelsea were still in the race to sign Ousmane Dembélé on a free from Barcelona.
After all, the Frenchman knows Thomas Tuchel well, and the German manager could be the ideal man to relaunch the winger properly ahead of the 2022 World Cup.
However, Barcelona were always in the background trying to keep him, until now.
That’s according to Mundo Deportivo, who claim on Monday that the La Liga giants are ‘fed up’ and are now ruling out another meeting with Moussa Sissoko, the player’s agent.
In fact, ‘they are getting used to the idea that he will not continue’ with them and ‘they do not contemplate more movements to renew him’.
Their stance is ‘either take it or leave it’, clearly referring to the previous offer they made the player, and this could be a boost for Chelsea.
The Blues, fresh from their recent takeover, will be keen to bolster a squad that could be a little depleted once all the players whose contracts are up this summer leave, and Dembélé could do the trick.
We’ll have to wait and see, but it appears Chelsea no longer have to compete with the Catalans, and it looks increasingly likely the France international will play somewhere other than the Nou Camp next year.
