Manchester United are reportedly making a late bid to sign Ousmane Dembele from Barcelona.
The La Liga side are desperate to move Demebele on before the end of the window.
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Barca director Mateu Alemany said on Thursday: “It’s clear that Dembele does not want to continue with Barcelona. He doesn’t want to be part of our project.
“We told Dembele he has to leave immediately. We expect Ousmane to be sold before Jan 31.”
Dembele hit back at the rumours surrounding his exit, insisting that he is ‘fully involved and at the disposal of his club’, but his time with the Catalans appears to be over.
Reports on Sunday suggested Spurs – who are yet to sign anyone in the transfer window – could make a Deadline Day move for Dembele, who moved to Barcelona from Borussia Dortmund for a whopping £135million in the summer of 2017.
Portuguese journalist Pedro Almeida says Dembele has agreed terms with Paris Saint-Germain – something Spurs are more reluctant to do given the Frenchman’s demands – but United are said to have made a late £16.6million offer.
Manchester United made an official bid to Barcelona by Ousmane #Dembele, “red devils” offers 20M€ by the player. Let’s see what happen. #MUFC
— Pedro Almeida (@pedrogva6) January 30, 2022
Foot Mercato (via Man Utd News) add further fuel to tat fire, claiming United ‘have opened talks with the entourage’ of Dembele and have ‘stepped up contacts with the player’s representatives’.
United are also looking to move players on in the window, with Donny van de Beek likely to leave on loan, and Jesse Lingard also looking for the exit.
But a source close to Lingard claims United are dragging their feet when it comes to a loan deal, as they are scared of what he might do for another club.
“United are petrified of Jesse going elsewhere, playing really well and showing them up.
“They don’t want a repeat of what happened at West Ham last season. Where he almost helped get them into the Champions League with the goals he scored.
“Jesse’s popular with the United players and they feel for him. The way the club are treating Jesse, given how long he’s been at United, is sending out the wrong message to the rest of the squad.
“It says everything about the current state of United that Jesse wants to go to play for a club near the bottom of the Premier League, rather than stay where he is.”
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