Ousmane Dembele has been recorded telling a Barcelona fan that he is staying at the club and responded "these are only rumours" when asked about a summer switch to Chelsea.
The French forward is out of contract at the Camp Nou at the end of the month but his future still hangs in the balance with the Catalan giants yet to renew his contract and he is free to speak to other clubs – with the Blues said to be leading the list of interested suitors in his signature.
In January, Xavi had claimed he felt cheated by the Frenchman and the player was handed a final warning by the coach last week in what appeared to be a transfer ultimatum. Barca were subsequently hit with a legal warning the same day after a threat was made by sporting director Mateu Alemany that the player has been told that “he must leave the club as soon as possible.”
A fan filmed himself speaking to Dembele – who was in his car – on a street in Barcelona, with the Frenchman responding “yes” when asked if he was staying at the club beyond this season. He was then asked if he would be joining Chelsea, to which he responded "these are only rumours" before adding “I’m good at Barcelona” when asked if he was of interest to Blues boss Thomas Tuchel - who coached him at Dortmund.
Dembele has been strongly linked with a move to the Premier League with Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea among the clubs linked to his signature. The player’s agent Moussa Sissoko has been at the centre of his player’s future and he has been outspoken in his criticism of how Barca have handled his client’s future.
At the end of January, Sissoko was photographed arriving at Barcelona airport on, with TV images showing that the agent receiving a phone call from PSG sporting director Leonardo. It appeared to be another negotiating tactic from Sissoko but five months on, the player’s future remains in limbo as his contract at Barca ticks towards its conclusion.
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Dembele has been free to speak to other clubs since 1 January and agree a pre-contract due to his contract expiring on 30 June. Barca paid £105million – in a deal rising to a potential £135m – to sign Dembele from Borussia Dortmund in 2017 in a transfer that has become symbolic of the club’s reckless transfer policy.
The French forward has been beset by injury problems since joining Barca in the summer of 2017 and he has been limited to just 69 starts in La Liga out of a possible 190 – indicative of his struggles to maintain fitness and avoid injury problems. The January arrivals of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Ferran Torres at Camp Nou further pushed him down the pecking order at the club.
Chelsea’s pursuit of the former Dortmund forward is linked to their interest in signing Raheem Sterling from Manchester City – with both deals possibly dependent on the other. Signing Dembele as a free agent would help redress the exits of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen, who both left Stamford Bridge without a transfer fee this summer.
