Manchester United are negotiating with Barcelona to sign their forward Ousmane Dembele on a season-long loan deal, report the Daily Record.
It is said that the Catalan giants are only open to a loan arrangement which includes a compulsory purchase option, while United would also have to take on Dembele’s full wage packet.
Manchester United progress talks with Barcelona over Ousmane Dembele transfer.https://t.co/tlqqmmT2CDhttps://t.co/o03TZ6qtic pic.twitter.com/bqpcmOAX1J
— Duncan Castles (@DuncanCastles) September 22, 2020
It is claimed that the player’s preference is to remain in Spanish football but the club are under financial pressure to ease their wage bill and would prefer to offload non-essential players in order to fund new arrivals.
Dembele has not featured for Barcelona’s first-team since November – and did not play at all under former boss Quique Setien – due to long-term injuries while his fitness has blighted his time at the Camp Nou since his 2017 switch from Dortmund.
The France international – who has been plagued by injuries since moving to the Camp Nou in the summer of 2017 – pulled up in the 25th minute of the clash against his former club Borussia Dortmund in late November and has not featured since.
Dembele has made 74 Barcelona first-team appearances, scoring 19 goals and 17 assists, and has been identified by United as an alternative to Jadon Sancho of Borussia Dortmund.
