Tottenham Hotspur have failed in a late bid to sign Ousmane Dembele from FC Barcelona, reports TMW journalist Giacomo Iacobellis.
The lowdown
Spurs have already completed two Deadline Day deals, shelling out £17.1million for Juventus’ Rodrigo Bentancur and loaning in his team-mate Dejan Kulusevski.
Dembele’s Barcelona contract expires at the end of the season, and his camp have rejected ‘several’ renewal offers (via The Athletic).
The club’s director of football Mateu Alemany has consequently declared that the player is ‘not committed to Barca’s future sporting project’ and insisted that ‘he must leave immediately’.
But if the £27m-rated (Transfermarkt) winger is to move, it seems The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium will not be his destination.
The latest
Spurs, Iacobellis tweeted on Monday evening, launched an unsuccessful ‘offensive’ for the player in the closing stages of the deadline day action.
‘Tottenham offensive for Dembele. After the interest from PSG/Man United/Chelsea, Spurs have also tried and negotiated with FC Barcelona until a few minutes ago,’ the TuttoMercatoWeb reporter revealed on his personal account.
“However, an agreement has NOT been found and the operation is currently down.”
The verdict
You could question the extent to which the transfer would have made sense. After all, Spurs have already managed to land a right winger in the form of Kulusevski.
And on top of that, Dembele’s injury record makes for alarming reading for any future suitors.
His ability can’t really be called into question, though, with Lionel Messi dubbing him a ‘phenomenon’ when he arrived in Catalonia off the back of an incredible spell with Borussia Dortmund, where he bagged 10 goals and 22 assists in 50 games as a teenager.
If Antonio Conte really is determined to bring him to North London though, Spurs could perhaps aim for a pre-contract agreement ahead of next season.
In other news, a source has shared a development on Alvaro Morata.