Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu has dashed the hopes of clubs trying to sign exciting French winger Ousmane Dembele by suggesting the youngster is a very important player for the Blaugrana’s future.
Barca spent £135.5m to sign the 21-year-old from Borussia Dortmund last summer, but his first year in Spain was hit by injuries, restricting the France international to just 17 La Liga appearances.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp joked with reporters this week that he was interested to hear Dembele was on the market, while Arsenal were hoping chief scout Sven Mislintat’s connection to Dortmund from his time with the Bundesliga outfit could secure a loan move.
But Bartomeu has shot down any plans the Premier League duo and others may have by stating just how important Dembele and Philippe Coutinho are to Barcelona’s future.
On a trip to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston Bartomeu said: “(Philippe) Coutinho, Dembele are for us a big investment.
Kylian Mbappe celebrates with Ousmane Dembele after his goal for France against Italy.
“They are very important players and we expect a lot from them. Coutinho probably in the last four months has been very active for the team.
“But Dembele is a very young player, a very talented player that we are, of course, expecting a lot from.
“It’s not easy to play in Barcelona the first year because the model of football is quite different from the rest. But after one year I’m sure we are going to see Dembele and Coutinho at a very high level.”
Dembele scored for France as they beat Italy 3-1 in Nice on Friday.