Chelsea are reportedly keen on signing Ousmane Dembele and are lining up a bid to land him from Barcelona, although they will only take him for a reasonable price.
According to a report by The Sun, Chelsea are considering the prospect of launching the offensive for Ousmane Dembele. The French international is weighing up his future at Barcelona, especially with his contract talks at the club stalling and could be set to depart Camp Nou soon.
Dembele has endured a roller-coaster of a ride since joining Barcelona from Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2017. Widely regarded as one of the best young wingers in the world at the time, the 23-year-old has endured a drop in stature of the past four years or so, with a spate of injuries hampering his progress to a great extent.
The same was the case in the initial stages of the current campaign, but Dembele seems to have changed things for the better in recent weeks, even if his tally of 6 goals and 3 assists in 20 outings might not be too impressive. Nevertheless, his stock still seems to be pretty high, with Chelsea showing an interest in signing him.
The Blues have recently been touted to be in the hunt for the French international, and for good reason. Hakim Ziyech has endured similar difficulties as Dembele at Barcelona, with a number of injuries curtailing his participation so far at Chelsea.
Christian Pulisic, too, has been restricted by a few fitness issues, while Callum Hudson-Odoi has blown hot and cold in the opportunities afforded to him. That leaves newly-appointed Thomas Tuchel with very few consistent options at his disposal early in his Chelsea tenure, although someone like Dembele might not ideally be a solution if his own fitness woes continue.
Nevertheless, for all his talent, Dembele would provide Tuchel with an X-Factor, if Chelsea do end up signing him. It now looks like the west Londoners are lining up a bid to swoop him away from Barcelona, where his situation appears to be increasingly delicate. It’s been claimed that Barcelona want to tie Dembele to a new contract, with the player himself inclined towards the same.
However, as per the report by The Sun, that does not seem to be the case, with an exit the likeliest occurrence. Chelsea are currently monitoring his situation and will make a move if a ‘reasonable price’ is offered. What now remains to be seen is if the Blues do end up signing Dembele from Barcelona soon, or if he ends up going elsewhere.