Ousmane Dembele attending Barcelona training on Monday night has given Chelsea some renewed transfer hope that a summer deal could be possible amid PSG confusion.
The winger has looked destined to leave Barcelona throughout the January transfer window and on Sunday night, it was reported that he had decided to join the French giants as a means of moving on as soon as possible.
But the two clubs appear to have been unable to come to an agreement, with Dembele's contract at the Camp Nou set to expire in the summer.
Given Thomas Tuchel's previous connections with the 24-year-old from their time at Borussia Dortmund, Chelsea had been installed as one of the favourites to complete a deal.
However, the deal came about too quickly for the European Champions who had wanted to wait till the summer meaning Paris-Saint Germain were in the driving seat on Sunday night.
But, as per Guillem Balague, the deal had fallen through for the Parisians meaning that the race to secure the Barca outcast goes on.
"Message from #PSG now: #Dembele's transfer wont happen this winter," the journalist wrote on Twitter.
"Dembélé representatives admitted to be happy with the agreement with PSG and #FCB was suggesting players that could have been coming the other direction.
"Now no way out for Dembélé... at this time."
While a January move from Chelsea for the player still seems unlikely, it does give Tuchel and co. a significant boost in terms of landing Dembele as a free agent in the summer.
We already know that his preferred Premier League destination is Chelsea with Arsenal and Tottenham of no interest to the former £100million rated man.
And a move to Stamford Bridge on a free transfer in a Thiago Silva like deal come the end of the season now looks a real possibility as on top of Balague's update, it has been revealed that the player in question is attending Barcelona training at 6pm (5pm GMT).
This is according to SPORT correspondent Samuel Marsden, who provided this update: "Dembele's just arrived at the training ground for Barça training, which starts at 6pm. Still no movement on his future..."
With Xavi and the whole Barca board not wanting to see the player remain at the club, the likeliness is that he will now be restricted to just training ahead of a summer exit to one of the big European clubs.
Read all the latest on the Ousmane Dembele transfer saga here.
