Ousmane Dembele’s agent has refused to get carried away with reports linking the French youngster with a move to Barcelona.
The 18-year-old notched a hat-trick for Rennes in the win over Nantes at the weekend, a game watched by Barca sporting director Robert Fernandez, and has emerged as one of the Catalan club’s top targets for the summer, according to Sport.
However, Badou Sambague has urged caution, despite his client’s nine goals in his first season bringing him to the attention of a host of Europe’s top clubs.
“We want him to follow a logical progression and for him to remain at Rennes for a season and a half, after which we’ll see what happens and how he has developed,” he told L’Equipe, with Quest France also quoting a source close to Dembele as following the same train of thought.
“He needs to be surrounded by confidence and competence. At the moment he plays for Rennes and has that very clear in his head.
“We’ve heard rumours of Barcelona’s interest but Ousmane is not ready for these clubs. He’s only been in Ligue 1 for half a season.”