Barcelona forward to be available for £37 million this summer, alerting Manchester United and Arsenal – reports

Barcelona forward Ousmane Dembele could be available for just £37 million this summer, according to reports. This could be something that changes the summer plans of Premier League teams Manchester United and Arsenal, as they have previously held an interest in the player. He is not the first player at the Catalan club to have his asking price slashed.

It has been suggested that Barcelona has put the majority of their squad up for sale this summer, to balance the books because of the coronavirus pandemic. However, it is stated that at least six players will not be available, presumably including star player Lionel Messi and goalkeeper Marc-Andre ten Stegen.

Executives at the club know that they will need to sell a number of players in order to slash the wage bill, keeping the club solvent, which could be great for the buyers market this summer. Dembele was brought from Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2017 for €105 million with add-ons reported to be in the region of €40 million.

If a sale happened for Dembele and it was this low, it would be a considerable loss for the Catalan club, one to regret. However, the player has not had the best time at the club which could be a deterrent for a number of clubs this summer, unless they feel they could bring out the best of the 23-year-old in the very near future.

This season, despite the coronavirus pandemic suspending world football, the French forward has made just nine appearances at the club, playing in La Liga and the UEFA Champions League. He has scored just one solitary goal, playing 492 minutes of football, suffering a number of hamstring injuries this season, which could be a deterrent also.

Since signing for the club in the summer of 2017, Dembele has made a total of 74 appearances at the Catalan club, scoring just 19 goals and 17 assists. At Borussia Dortmund, Dembele made a total of 50 appearances, scoring ten goals and 22 assists. At Rennes, his first senior club. Dembele made a total of 29 appearances, scoring 12 goals and five assists.

Dembele has the ingredients to become a good player but with his number of injuries since signing for Barcelona and the lack of penetration going forward, with very few goals and assists, even £37 million could be an uncalculated risk and something United should stay clear of. However, if could all work out for him away from Spain.

In Spain, football is set to resume on the 8 June 2020 and Dembele is not going to be tested for coronavirus, which suggests he is not going to be fit before the conclusion of the season, therefore his 2019/20 season is over. This could be a reason for the price cut but his injury history needs to be looked at too. United, or anyone else do not need injury prone players.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer might keep an eye out for the player and see what develops in the summer, but at this moment in time, he should continue pushing for the number one targets the club want to sign, of which Dembele, at least not this one, will be part of, if indeed he is in the plans of the club at all. I would doubt it right now.

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I support Manchester United, the greatest English football team to have ever existed. Bruno Fernandes is the latest in a long line of players with great ability to play for the club. I idolised Bryan Robson, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, and Eric Cantona growing up.