Liverpool FC target Ousmane Dembele has made clear his desire of staying at FC Barcelona and fighting for his place in the lineup.
The Reds were believed to be interested in signing the French international and were preparing to submit an offer to the Spanish side to sign Dembele in the summer. FC Barcelona are themselves reported to be looking to offload Dembele this summer, having not been impressed by the winger since he signed for them in 2018.
Dembele has struggled to make an impact at FC Barcelona and impress the fans since moving to Spain from Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2018.
Signed as a replacement for Neymar, who departed for PSG, the French attacker has not been able to live up to his £135.5million price tag. Moreover, a series of frequent injuries have marred his progress at the club and limited his playing time on the pitch. The player has also been warned against reporting late to team training sessions on a few occasions.
The financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic has hit FC Barcelona so bad that the club is asking players to take a wage cut, which would be the second instance of such a situation since the pandemic spread.
In such an event, the Spanish side are extremely keen on letting go of some players in the upcoming transfer window and raise ample funds to continue operations at the club. Dembele is believed to be one of the players that FC Barcelona are willing to sell and will even accept half of the initial amount they had paid for him in 2018.
Liverpool FC had been linked with Dembele for the past couple of seasons. However, the interest of the Reds in the player has intensified with the Premier League club being priced out of a deal for their long-term target Timo Werner.
With Dembele being available for a reported sum of £40 million, Jurgen Klopp was eager on signing the young Frenchman who still has a lot of time to regain his sparking form and become a star player. However, Dembele is believed to have rebuffed the Premier League club, with the player keen on staying in Barcelona and challenging for a place in the lineup under new coach Quique Setien, who is ready to give the player a chance to redeem himself.
