Chelsea target Ousmane Dembele is 'happy' to remain at Barcelona under Xavi due to the good relationship he has with the iconic former midfielder as the Blues are now forced into an unwanted transfer U-turn.
Romelu Lukaku's £8million loan departure is all but out of the way now for Todd Boehly and Chelsea with the Belgian scheduled for a medical very soon and this itself can now be forgotten about as the squad rebuild starts. And the new owner can now try to help supply manager Thomas Tuchel with all the ammunition needed for 2022/23 to help close the gap on Liverpool and Manchester City.
Raheem Sterling is reportedly the number one target and it is understood that despite the £35million that the current World Champions want to pay for the Three Lions international, a compromise of around £45million is expected to be settled upon. football.london understands that more than just Sterling will be brought in this summer to sort out the attacking deficiencies that held the Blues back last season and it looked like 25-year-old Dembele would be the man to join this revamp.
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However, indications suggest that if Barcelona can muster up the right contract offer to his agent Moussa Sissoko, then Dembele would be more than happy to snub a Tuchel reunion in favour of staying put at the Camp Nou. His transfer bombshell dropped on his holidays to a Barca supporter coupled with his preference to potentially snub the Premier League for Paris Saint-Germain are just a few red flags that suggest Chelsea may have to stop dithering and look elsewhere.
Despite all of this, Spanish outlet Sport report that the Blues remain in pole position for Dembele if he were to leave Spain this summer. But the waiting game he is inflicting on all is allowing the likes of other targets such as Richarlison, Raphinha and Christopher Nkunku to come strongly into the fray. Worryingly, with Chelsea remaining in pole position, they may need to take the hint that Barca's number 7 could be using their name for a new deal which is what Xavi wants to happen amid the financial stresses that can be found in Catalunya.
This is a sentiment echoed by Achraf Ben Ayad who has close links to the La Liga giants and his latest tweet indicated that a transfer U-turn may have to be on the cards for last season's third-best team in England. His latest tweet translated to: "Dembele wants to stay because the coach loves him, the player feels happy in Barcelona and gets used to it. He is in the prime of his tender years, and for this reason, the club's offer should not be too far from the other offers it received."
Chelsea fans - Do you believe this Ousmane Dembélé deal is now dead in the water of do you think there still could be some life in it despite the setbacks suffered over recent days? Leave your thoughts down below in the comments section!
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