Chelsea have reportedly made a last-ditch attempt to convince Barcelona winger Ousmane Dembele to join with a fresh 'contract offer' which will now prompt a decision to be made imminently with his preference to remain in Spain still well known despite these new developments.
Dembele's future has been of much speculation in recent times with Barcelona's number 7 clearly demanding over-the-top terms that have been hard for Joan Laporta and others and the Camp Nou to agree to. With days left to run on his current deal, his agent Moussa Sissoko has been anticipating a new offer coming in from the Catalan giants. However, this hasn't been the case as of yet and despite Xavi's efforts to convince the winger to accept similar terms to his current offer, the 25-year-old is clearly wanting more money on his new deal which Barcelona cannot afford.
The economic situation at the Spanish club means that they are currently limited in terms of improving new player contracts and despite an economic lever vote where the club would work to release extra operational funds, it is understood that at the terms Sissoko wants for his client, Barca cannot afford to keep the former Borussia Dortmund star. Therefore, with the prospect of him becoming a free agent largely looming ahead of Friday, July 1, the expectation was that Chelsea would have swooped in already to sign the Thomas Tuchel favourite.
READ MORE: Declan Rice miss, Jules Kounde snub, Ousmane Dembele U-turn - Chelsea worst case transfer window
That has not happened up until this point with it being reported that Todd Boehly, as well as Laporta, viewed his new wage demands as excessive and was prepared to give up the fight for the player based on those terms.
However. in a dramatic twist of fate, Chelsea and Boehly have seemingly gone back on that stance as French outlet L'Equipe via Get French Football News have reported that in the last few hours, a fresh proposal has come in from west London.
Whether these leaks are coming out to try and force Barcelona to cave into his new demands remains to be seen but the chances of Dembele to Chelsea have suddenly shot up again despite his transfer bombshell that he dropped whilst on his holiday.
The wider context of this transfer has big implications too on Arsenal's pursuit of Raphinha. It was understood that Barcelona wouldn't have made a move for the Leeds United star if Dembele was to stay put. But these new developments could really make the race for the Brazilian winger interesting once more.
On the other hand, if the Blues were to land Dembele alongside prime attacking target Raheem Sterling, that would almost certainly rule them out of the race to sign Leeds' number 10 this summer.
Chelsea fans- Who would you rather see the club sign- Ousmane Dembélé or Raphinha and why? Leave your thoughts down below In the comments section!
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