Manchester United have reportedly set their sights on Barcelona forward Ousmane Dembele, who is also being courted by Manchester City.
According to a report by Catalan outlet El Nacional, Ousmane Dembele is facing an uncertain future at Barcelona after entering the final year of his contract at Camp Nou. This has piqued the interest of Manchester United and Manchester City over a potential January move.
Dembele joined Barcelona from Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2017, arriving at Camp Nou as a long-term replacement for Neymar, who had made his way to Paris Saint-Germain in a shock move. The move to the Catalan club, though, has not worked out as envisioned, with a raft of injuries curtailing his progress enormously.
To date, the 24-year-old has made 118 appearances for Barcelona, with a return of 30 goals and 21 assists to show for his efforts. However, Dembele is now in the final year of his deal at Camp Nou, which has put Barcelona in a precarious position. The situation has also alerted Manchester United and Manchester City.
Manchester United have been one of Dembele’s long-term suitors, having made numerous attempts to swoop him away from Barcelona, although a move has never really materialised. The continued interest in the French international, though, is odd, considering they bolstered their attack this past summer in the form of Jadon Sancho and Cristiano Ronaldo.
So, even if Anthony Martial, who has coincidentally been linked with Barcelona, departs Old Trafford, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will still have more than enough personnel to cover for his exit, although Manchester United have been linked with several attackers of late. On the other hand, Manchester City could well be in need of someone like Dembele.
That is because Raheem Sterling’s future at the Etihad is up in the air, with the English forward being linked with Barcelona lately. In fact, the report suggests that Manchester City could formulate a potential part-exchange deal that would see Dembele and Sterling trade bases.
Barcelona, on their part, are hoping to tie Dembele down to a new contract, which essentially rules out a swap including Sterling, for now. As for Manchester United, it remains to be seen if they make their move for the 24-year-old forward in January or wait till next summer to see if he becomes a free agent.
