Liverpool target left on scrapheap despite Barcelona slashing price to €60m

Barcelona winger Ousmane Dembele faces being left on the scrapheap, despite the Catalan giants halving their asking price for the player to €60m euro (£52.3m).

There were high hopes for the 22-year-old flyer when Barca signed him from Borussia Dortmund back in 2017 for an initial €105m, but the France international has been beset by injury issues during his time in Catalonia and his career in Spain has never really taken off.

Now Marca are reporting that Barcelona are willing to sell Dembele but that ‘no one is ready to match’ Barcelona’s asking price of what would appear to be a bargain.

Talks of a move away from Nou Camp was heightened before Dembele’s most recent injury problem, when the attacker’s agent met with the Catalan club to discuss a potential departure this summer.

It was decided that his future would rely on his progress this season, but he has only completed 90 minutes three times and there have been claims that backroom staff have ran out of patience with him.

Numerous reports in recent months have revealed that Barca also believe Dembele’s poor diet is the reason behind his injury woes, as reported in the Daily Mail.

Liverpool and Arsenal were strongly linked with a move for Dembele, prior to his switch to Spain, and it is thought that some interest does remain in trying to resurrect the player’s career.

Indeed, when you look at his stats alone, Dembele is highly productive and Barca legend Lionel Messi recently described his ability as ‘frightening’.

The winger has scored 19 goals and added 17 assists for Barca in 74  games, but that relatively small number of games has been spread over three years and it would appear that the injury issues are forcing clubs to look at more healthy targets.

 

Huge lift for Liverpool as Sevilla call clears Klopp to bring in top target

Liverpool’s chances of signing Diego Carlos from Sevilla this summer have received a lift after the LaLiga side were reported to have identified their preferred replacement for the Brazilian defender.

Carlos moved to Spain from Ligue 1 side Nantes last summer and has really caught the eye, appearing in 24 matches in all competitions to help the club into third place in the table and in with a chance of bringing Champions League football back to the Ramon Sanchez Stadium.

The 27-year-old’s displays, however, have not gone unnoticed and it’s been claimed that Liverpool were interested in signing the player in January and that the Reds had tabled an offer for his services.

According to Spanish news outlet El Desmarque, Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane is also casting eyes on Diego Carlos, whom he sees as an ideal long-term replacement for Sergio Ramos.

However, the source adds that Liverpool remain in the driving seat ahead of the summer window. Read more…