France manager Didier Deschamps has warned Thomas Tuchel that Ousmane Dembele is not 'decisive' enough and has highlighted his 'bad habits' as Chelsea are linked with a £13m bid for him.
With only 11 days remaining of the transfer window, it looked as though things were petering out for the west Londoners who were only looking to secure a left-wing-back replacement.
However, Dembele's issues with Barca have alerted many club's across Europe of the potential that is now there to secure a player who once had a transfer value of £100m on a cut-price deal.
"We've talked and talked, made various offers. We've tried to find a way but these offers have been systematically rejected by his agents... it seems obvious he does not want to continue at Barca and is not committed to Barca's future project," Barca director Mateu Almeny said via AFP reporter Tom Allnutt.
"In this scenario he and his agents have been informed that he must leave immediately because we want players committed to this project and therefore we hope a transfer will take place before January 31."
Since these comments were issued, Chelsea appeared to have stolen a march on the Gunners to reunite Thomas Tuchel with a player he knows well from his Borussia Dortmund days.
According to Shay Lugassi of the BarcaTimes, via Simon Phillips, the Blues are one of three clubs to have made a significant offer to Moussa Sissoko for his client, including a large signing on fee.
Other reports have indicated that Marina Granovskaia and co. are preparing a cheap £13m offer to test Barca's willingness to let Dembele go in the January transfer window.
Despite the 24-year-old's apparent reluctance to be sold by Barca, it seems as though there is no way back now for a player whose future seems destined to be away from Catalonia.
The question now is whether or not the the player who contributed to 32 goals under Tuchel's guidance in Germany is the right mould to solve the attacking woes in this current Blues squad that was exposed with the recent Manchester City and Brighton results.
If Deschamps' words are anything to go by, then no could be the answer, with the France manager picking out key concerns he has over Dembele.
The World Cup winning manager highlighted key attacking faults in the Barca winger's game that would indicate that he's not the answer to solving the big Romelu Lukaku conundrum.
"He could score and be more effective,” he suggested back in March 2021 via Barca Universal.
“Ousmane has and always had this ability to create chances and make the difference. He is not always decisive in the area. That’s where it’s most difficult.”
On top of these apparent concerns, Deschamps has also pointed out a few bad 'habits' in the past that have let Dembele down.
"Ousmane has a bit of a habit of being late. Whether for his club or in the French national team, he should be a little more attentive to the things that are part of the day-to-day life of an elite-level footballer," Deschamps warned in a previous interview back in 2018.
"He is a young player and I do not lose hope that he will realise all these aspects. They are situations he keeps repeating, but the sooner he avoid them, the better it will be for everyone."
