Liverpool are reportedly not interested in signing Ousmane Dembele, who is now a free agent following the expiration of his Barcelona contract.
According to CBS journalist Ben Jacobs, who revealed on The Done Deal Show, Liverpool are not interested in signing Ousmane Dembele despite some rumours linking the Reds with a move for the Frenchman.
Dembele was linked with a January exit from Barcelona, but manager Xavi Hernandez convinced him to stay for another six months. The French winger excelled under the Spanish tactician, finishing with 13 assists in the league, the most by any player in the 2021/22 campaign.
Chelsea were among the first clubs linked with a move for the former Borussia Dortmund attacker. However, some reports claimed the Blues’ contract offer did not please Dembele even though the terms were better than the one Barcelona proposed.
Liverpool, too, were linked with a move for the Frenchman, especially keeping Sadio Mane’s exit in mind. However, as per Ben Jacobs, all such rumours were fuelled by Dembele’s agent Moussa Sissoko to get a better deal from Barcelona. Liverpool even warned the 2018 FIFA World Cup winner’s agent about spreading fake rumours.
“It’s all coming from Sissoko to try to leverage, shock horror, right at the point when Dembele is in deep talks with Barcelona to get more. Liverpool laughed off the links and they actually said that they warned Sissoko to not spread false rumours about their interest. They were not interested in Dembele and they made that very clear that they were unhappy with form of links being put out there,” Jacobs said.
As it stands, Dembele is now a free agent as his contract with Barcelona expired on Thursday, June 30, but his future is still unclear. He was not convinced by Chelsea’s offer or the one proposed by the Blaugrana. But there have been reports that the Catalan giants are quietly confident that the 25-year-old will extend his stay with them.
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Since joining them in 2017, Dembele has made 149 appearances for Barcelona, scoring 32 and assisting 34 goals in the process. For now, what remains certain is that the 2018 FIFA World Cup winner will not join Liverpool, who will not pursue him this summer.
