Barcelona president, Josep Maria Bartomeu has no plans to sell Ousmane Dembele following reports he is wanted by Arsenal and Liverpool.
Ousmane Dembele
Speaking while giving presentations at Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the president of FC Barcelona, Josep Maria Bartomeu, opened up on the intrigue surrounding the summer transfer window.
According to The Associated Press, when asked if Barcelona is interested in signing Atletico Madrid star, Antoine Griezmann, he said; "some players will come. Others will leave. That's normal.
"But no doubt, without saying names, I cannot say names because probably a lot of them are under negotiation by the people of the club. Of course, so many players will appear."
Arsenal have recently been linked with an audacious bid for Ousmane Dembele, with head of recruitment, Sven Mislintat said to be in ‘constant contact’ with the winger.
Mislintat helped to take Dembele to Dortmund in 2016 and had hoped to capitalise on the winger’s underwhelming first season at the Camp Nou following a £110m move to Spain.
However, Bartomeu says Dembele was bought as a long-term acquisition and will stay with the Catalans.
He said; ‘[Philippe] Coutinho, [Ousmane] Dembele are for us a big investment,’ Bartomeu told AP.
‘They are very important players and we expect a lot from them. But Dembele is a very young player, a very talented player that we are, of course, expecting a lot from
‘He’s been demonstrating during the season that he’s a good young player for us. But, of course, next season will be different.
‘It’s not easy to play in Barcelona the first year because the model of football is quite different from the rest. But after one year I’m sure we are going to see Dembele and Coutinho at a very high level.’