Barcelona are keen to offload Ousmane Dembélé on deadline day and are looking for a top club to come forward to sign the winger. The La Liga side have taken this step after the winger, whose contract expires in June, refused to sign an extension at the Camp Nou.
Two days ago, Sport reported that Chelsea have ‘shown interest’ in the 24-year-old. It was also explained Thomas Tuchel is a ‘great supporter’ of the player as the two worked together at Borussia Dortmund in the past.
L’Équipe now say Barca, in their efforts to get rid of the France international, approached Paris Saint-Germain via an intermediary. During the talks, no money was put on the table, but a swap deal was proposed. However, the negotiations did not take off.
The Catalan club, who value the attacker at €20m, ‘tried to enter’ into talks with Chelsea, but the Blues were ‘not interested’ in the ‘immediate arrival’ of Dembélé.
Although the wideman’s Camp Nou exit today is not totally ruled out, the chances, as of now, look slim. If he ends up staying at Barca, the Frenchman will leave them as a free agent next summer.
There have been claims suggesting Dembélé has some sort of an agreement with PSG for next summer, but these reports have been dismissed by L’Equipe.
If Dembélé were to leave Barcelona after this season, ‘he prefers Chelsea’.
The attacker, in private, has not hidden his desire to make a switch to England. The Champions League winners seem to ‘have the assets’ to welcome him to Stamford Bridge.
Tuchel, for his part, is ‘particularly interested’ in bringing his former player to Chelsea, but in the next window. L’Equipe add a decision on Dembélé’s future should be taken in March or April, if he were to end up staying at Barcelona beyond the winter market.
