Barcelona tried to sell €50m-rated star to Manchester City last summer - Reports
Barcelona reportedly tried to offload Ousmane Dembele last summer. Manchester City were offered the chance to sign the Frenchman for €50 million. Reports also state that Barcelona tried to induce a swap deal involving Raheem Sterling and Ousmane Dembele.
Manchester City wisely turned down the offer to let go of their star man in return for a player whose career has been plagued by injuries. Dembele is definitely no longer worth the €50m as demanded by Barcelona last summer.
The French winger joined the Catalan giants from Borussia Dortmund in 2017 for a record fee for a teenager back then. His transfer cost Barcelona €105 million plus a reported €40 million in add-ons.
He was tipped by many to be the next big prospect in world football during his Dortmund days. Barcelona, understandably paid a hefty amount, made higher due to their record sale of Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain.
However, the plan has not gone according to the script since. During his four-year stay at the Camp Nou, the player has missed a mammoth 672 days of football (and counting) due to injuries. He has suffered 12 different injuries (six to the same hamstring) since joining Barcelona in 2017.
Ousmane Dembele made his first appearance of the season this week after nearly five months out through injury.
Barcelona just announced he's injured again. 😓 https://t.co/FPtCphlX5c
He has played a paltry 119 games for the club, mostly as a substitute, racking up 30 goals and 21 assists in that time.
Dembele is understandably on the fringes of the first team and could be on his way out of the club.
The reason behind the decision was not just down to Dembele's failed transfer, however. The club itself is in a poor financial position and selling a star player would have fetched them good money in the transfer market and reduced a significantly large wage bill.
Barcelona are struggling financially
The club was left in financial ruins by former president Josep Maria Bartomeu. New president Joan Laporta has tried to stablise the ship by selling a bunch of their players such as Antoine Griezmann and Miralem Pjanic.
They failed to sign big players in the summer and had to make do with free agents. The biggest blow was delivered when they had to let go of Lionel Messi on a free transfer.
They recently sacked former club legend Ronald Koeman after a poor run of form in the league and in Europe. The club has hired club legend Xavi as the new head coach. There seems to be a new sense of optimism and hope around Barcelona and many believe Xavi could be the man to save the club.
Highlights from Xavi's first workout as Barça manager https://t.co/SsqLslunZi