Barcelona’s Dembele stance sees Klopp turn to £70m Bundesliga winger

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp could turn to a Bayer Leverkusen winger after Barcelona categorically ruled out the sale of Ousmane Dembele this summer. 

Barcelona’s refusal to sell last summer’s €130m arrival from Borussia Dortmund appears to have thwarted Klopp’s transfer plans – with reports in Germany now claiming the Liverpool boss will turn his attentions towards a Bayer Leverkusen star instead.

Klopp is targeting what has been described as a “multi-functional winger” to come into his forward line and offer cover and competition for Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane.

Perhaps more worryingly for the Reds will have arrived on Monday evening when surprise reports from France claimed Mane had agreed to join Real Madrid this summer.

While a deal for Dembele always seemed like a pipe-dream anyway, Barcelona appear to have ended those hopes dead with president Josep Maria Bartomeu signalling his intent to retain the services of the young Frenchman.

Now reports in Germany claim Klopp will instead look to sign Leverkusen winger Leon Bailey as an alternative.

That’s according to CalcioInsider, who claim in an exclusive that Klopp have now begun negotiations for the £70million-rated star, who believe the Reds will want to tie up a deal for the exciting winger as quickly as possible.

Bailey enjoyed a productive season for Bayer in the Bundesliga where he scored nine goals and created six more from 25 starts, while the player has also been linked with Chelsea, Bayern Munich and AC Milan in the past.

 

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