Transfer News: Chelsea sceptical about signing French ace Ousmane Dembele
According to Ben Jacobs (h/t Football.London), Chelsea have paused their pursuit of Barcelona star Ousmane Dembele and will only consider signing him as a last resort due to the Frenchman’s wage demands.
Chelsea have been linked with a number of wingers in recent weeks and Ousmane Dembele is one of them. The Blues appear to be prioritising signing Raheem Sterling and Raphinha. They want to sign the duo and their interest in the Barcelona man is not as advanced as the other two.
Dembele is out of contract with Barcelona effective today. The talented Frenchman has failed to sign a new deal with the Catalan club and whilst it is not yet ruled out, the former Borussia Dortmund man is running out of time to make a decision.
The problem with the Frenchman as it is being now claimed is his wage demands with none of the interested clubs wanting to match what Dembele wants. This has left the 25-year-old in a bit of a limbo and he will have to make a decision on what to do very soon.
Dembele for his credit is playing some of his best football in the past six months and has managed to stay fit for quite some time now. He has been exceptional under Xavi Hernandez at Barcelona consistently providing assists and putting in solid performances.
The 25-year-old has played 32 games for the Spanish giants this season scoring two goals and providing 13 assists across competitions. However, the four seasons that preceded this were not even close and there were many times that it looked as if Dembele would not realise his potential.
Injuries and disciplinary issues have not been Dembele’s friend ever since his move from Dortmund to Barcelona in 2017 and it is only in these last six months that things seem to have settled from the Frenchman’s perspective. Thus, it is understandable why teams do not want to give the talented winger a mega-contract.
Ever since Tuchel came to Stamford Bridge, he has tended to play a system without natural wingers but it looks like the German tactician has new plans for the upcoming season. Chelsea’s interest in natural wingers seems to indicate just that and hence the interest in Dembele is not surprising.
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Chelsea are wise in their decision to not wait around for Dembele. We still don’t know what is going to happen with Barcelona and the French winger and if he is willing to accept the contract offered to him, then it makes sense for us to pursue the talented Frenchman.
