Borussia Dortmund have completed the signing of Ousmane Dembele from French club Rennes amidst reports linking the French winger to Liverpool and Leicester.
Dembele penned down a contract with Die Schwarzgelben which will see him stay with them for 5 years. The youngster was being monitored by Dortmund for over a year and a half after watching him play for the junior levels of the French National team.
Ousmane was also being chased by Liverpool, with the Mirror claiming that the young Frenchman was personally contacted by former Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp. The report further states that Premier League Champions Leicester City were also vying for his signature but Dembele told manager Ranieri that his decision was already made.
Dembele to Dortmund
Dembele spoke of his excitement in playing for the club on their fabled Champions League nights, saying “I cannot wait to play in the Bundesliga before more than 80,000 spectators at Signal Iduna Park and with my new teammates in the Champions League.”
Speaking on his new club, Dembele spoke of the way Borussia kept in contact with him from the beginning, “BVB tried very early to get me and always kept in close contact with me – this behavior left me really impressed”.
The French U19 international’s decision comes mere days before his 19th birthday. He was sold on the idea of signing for the German outfit when he and his mother, along with Dortmund manager Tomas Tuchel and the General Manager Michael Zorc, toured their training facilities in April, and he was informed of their plans regarding his future development.
With Dortmund losing key players every season, mostly to Bayern Munich, Dembele represents another great investment from the German club to ensure they don’t fall too far back from Bayern in their quest to dominate German football. Even if they lose players in their forward line, Dembele will be primed to step up and take the mantle.
