Barcelona forward Ousmane Dembele has been linked with shock return to former side Rennes for the rest of the 2019-20 season.
The French international is currently sidelined with a thigh injury, and he is not expected to return to first team action until early February.
However he could find it difficult to get back into the team for the second half of the campaign, due to the consistency of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Antoine Griezmann.
And the former Borussia Dortmund man is also likely to be battling for a place with La Masia graduates Carles Perez and Ansu Fati, who have both impressed so far this season.
This situation has reportedly encouraged interest from his first club, Rennes, who want him back in France to help their push for a Champions League place in Ligue 1 in 2020.
The interest is still at its formative stage, but according to reports in Diario AS, the French club will contact Barcelona to sell the deal to the La Liga giants as an ideal scenario for Dembele to regain form and fitness.
However any deal would rely on the Catalans picking up the majority of his salary for the next six months, with Rennes unlikely to be able to contribute more than 30%.
