Newcastle United journalist Liam Kennedy has offered an update on the situation surrounding Ousmane Dembele and a potential transfer switch to St. James’ Park.
Recent reports in Spain have suggested that Newcastle are looking at potentially signing the 24-year-old French forward, who is set to enter the final six months of his contract once the January transfer window begins.
The transfer has been thrown into doubt given the actions of new Barcelona boss Xavi, who is reportedly doing his best to try and convince him to stay at the club as he tries to shape the Catalan side ‘for many years’.
Speaking on the latest edition of NUFC Matters, Kennedy discussed the situation and noted that talks about signing Dembele had been going on around the club for some time, and that he didn’t rule out the idea of him making a move to the club at some point in the future:
“One of the stories that you hear a lot of from the foreign press is the Ousmane Dembele one. This is my information: prior to Xavi getting the job at Barcelona, where I know he’s made noises suggesting that he wants to give him a new deal etc, but I’d actually heard that Dembele was a potential summer signing, was one that was seen as a real one with a chance.”
TIF Thoughts on Liam Kennedy’s comments about Ousmane Dembele and Newcastle United…
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Dembele’s numbers at Barcelona haven’t been spectacular, as he has failed to break double digits in either goals or assists during a spell that has been riddled with injuries.
But when you look at Dembele’s career overall, where he has 101 goal involvements (52 goals, 49 assists) in 200 appearances across Ligue 1, the Bundesliga and La Liga, you can certainly see why a club like Newcastle would want to sign him to take them to the next level.
His injury situation might be a cause for concern, but if they wait until the summer to sign him where they won’t have the burden of a big transfer fee to pay for him to help soften the blow, then it would perhaps be worth them taking the risk and making him their marquee signing as they look to move forward as a club.
However, the immediate problem that they have is staying in the division, because whilst they might be able to offer him all of the wages in the world as a free agent in the summer given they are backed up by PIF’s enormous wealth, they probably aren’t going to be able to attract him if they are a Championship side.
In other news: ‘Can score an awful lot of goals’ – NUFC journalist now drops ‘massive’ claim on PIF target