One player who has been touted as a potential saviour to help fix Chelsea's attacking woes is Thomas Tuchel favourite Ousmane Dembele and the Blues have now been told that they can pounce on the 'dangerous' situation.
Dembele, 24, is looking less and less likely by the day to sign a new deal in Catalonia as Barca continue to fail in reaching his and his agent's demands and it is no surprise to see the likes of Man United and Newcastle linked to a potential swoop in the summer if reports are to be believed.
Some reports are even indicating that the £126million winger has no future in Spain past the summer with his current club reportedly giving up on contract negotiations as focus lies on tying down Gavi to a new long-term deal amid tenuous Chelsea links.
With the Frenchman's future all up in the air regarding where he could end up, a host of aforementioned Premier League clubs have joined the race to sign the former Borussia Dortmund starlet.
Despite this, it seems as though the current European Champions are still the favourites to win the race for the 24-year-old who they desperately need to solve their attacking woes.
According to journalist Jose Alvarez, via Sport Witness, Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has insisted on signing his former star man with the summer looking the more likely time for any deal to come to fruition due to the need for the wing-back crisis needing to be sorted out this month, football.london understands.
On top of this, in the 1-0 defeat to Man City in the crunch game at the weekend, all of Hakim Ziyech, Christian Pulisic and club record signing Romelu Lukaku underwhelmed the German boss who has now tried and tested 11 attacking combinations so far this season to no avail.
"We expected more from all our offensive players in the last match," Tuchel said in his pre-Brighton press conference when reflecting on the loss to Pep Guardiola's side in gameweek 22.
"I think we had enough offensive actions, transitions, to hurt Man City more than we did. If this answers your question, maybe not 100%, but he is included in our offensive component.
"He's a key player, so there will always be pressure but not more pressure than he puts on himself. And we need to find a mix between all the expectations, the pressure, and to be relaxed enough to play your best game. It's not only about pushing, squeezing, demands, it's also about feeling peace and being relaxed on the pitch.
"Things will fall into place when we keep on working hard and this is what we will keep on doing."
Surely there is no better man in this situation for Tuchel to bring in than the tried and tested Dembele who flourished under the guidance of the ex-PSG manager.
The chemistry between the manager and player respectively is rather strong with Frank Lampard's successor labelling the Blues target an 'incredible' player in a past interview.
"Ousmane is an incredible player, he's really talented," he told a press conference back in 2019.
"I could watch his amazing skills in every training session. He's also a great human being. He's a little crazy. He's a really nice boy, but a little crazy.
"He loves to laugh but can also have very serious conversations. It's never boring with him. If he's focussed enough he can reach any level. When I talked to him for the very first time, he told me he wanted to play for Barcelona.
"That's where he is now. It means he can reach any level, but he needs to remain focused and improve each day.
"During training sessions he was as talented using his left or right foot. He's a good boy. I had a good year with him."
Dembele has reciprocated the love between the pair with his one line verdict: "Thomas Tuchel really convinced me, he is my favourite manager."
Collate everything together in this scenario and this could equal a perfect match for the manager, player and club as they look to strengthen their attacking line in the summer to aid the struggling Lukaku.
And this could be a real possibility now with Fabrizio Romano ruling rivals Man United out of the race for Dembele with other positions on their respective agenda, meaning it's one less obstacle for Marina Granovskaia to clear.
He told the well known Manchester United YouTube fan channel The United Stand: "Yes, so talented but a player with a lot of problems with injuries, so this is why it is not a so clear deal and in January, I don't see Man United signing a winger to be honest.
"They have many wingers, many players that they trust and they pay a lot of money to players like Jadon Sancho, they want to protect players like Greenwood, so I don't see Man Utd signing a winger in January.
"But, Dembele could be an opportunity in the summer- Dembele was the second number in the 2020 list when they wanted Jadon Sancho and when it was difficult to find an agreement with Borussia Dortmund back then, so they tried for Dembele on a loan to buy option.
"Barcelona said no because they knew the player was not open to extending is contract- this is why they were feeling the danger.
"They are still in big danger now with the situation because they have no agreement in place to extend his contract, so for Man United and English clubs- it could be a possibility for the summer.
"But at the moment, I'm told that this deal is not a priority for Man United, so they are not desperate to sign Dembele. Let's see what happens in the upcoming months."
Read all the latest on the Dembele transfer saga here.
