Ousmane Dembele edges closer to becoming a Barcelona player
Robert Fernandez has previously been unsuccessful in his attempts to sign him
The player has given the OK, but Barça must strike a deal with Borussia Dortmund
Good friends with Samuel Umtiti, Ousmane Dembele is one of Barcelona's top targets this summer. The Borussia Dortmund forward joined the club from Rennes for 12 million euros last year and has always been an object of desire for Barça's sporting director Robert Fernandez.
Barça have reports on Dembele dating back to when he began to play for France U15s. He's well known at Camp Nou. In fact, before he left Rennes he met personally with Robert, who tried to convince him to sign for the Catalan club.
However, the two-footed youngster went for Dortmund because in Germany he was assured regular football, something which wasn't possible at Camp Nou with the presence of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar in the club's forward line.
On Wednesday, German newspaper Bild revealed, though, that Barça have now reached an agreement with the player's agent over a five-year deal. For obvious reasons, the club have not been able to confirm this information.
France Football have also revealed some details, claiming that Barcelona will not pay the 80 million euros Dortmund want, but they are ready to spend 50 million euros plus 20 million more in variables.
Dembele's hypothetical arrival would pose the first 'problem' for new coach Ernesto Valverde. Beyond rotating the MSN, the French winger would best fit in to Barça's side if they played 3-4-3: Dembele on the right with Messi in a central role, as we saw at times in the second hald of the last season.
Barça know that they're well covered on the left with Jordi Alba (Lucas Digne) and Neymar and they want the same on the right. A right-back who gets forward and a skillful wide man. There's still the option to sign Gerard Deulofeu if Dembele doesn't come off.
The price of the two players, obviously, is not the same. Deulofeu is available for 12 million euros before June 30. Barça have a maximum: if they can, they want the best.
