Ousmane Dembele, heavily linked with a move to Anfield over the last nine months, was going to renew his contract but his agent “ruined everything on signing day.”
His agent, Moussa Sissoko, has been accused of stealing the spotlight but he recently told L’Equipe: “Everyone talks about money. But it’s not only money for us.
“Also the management with the player day to day is very important. How can he play right after getting Covid without even training?”
According to Gerard Romero, via Barca Universal, “Ousmane Dembélé was going to renew his contract.
“In fact, he already had an agreement with the club. His agent ruined everything on signing day.”
Liverpool reportedly want to sign the Frenchman and have shown interest in a swap deal involving Guinean international Naby Keita although that’s a negotiation that would be virtually impossible to pull off in my view.
Dembele reportedly earns €344,000 per week (£287k-a-week) so his wages would already be a huge issue for the Reds even if his injuries aren’t already a massive risk for the Merseysiders.
That risk could be mitigated, El Nacional reported at the start of January, as Barcelona are prepared to let him go for just €10million this month to cut their losses and at least recoup some of the €162m (£135.5m) they paid to sign him from Borussia Dortmund.
The report said that Liverpool have tried to ‘seduce him on more than one occasion’ and while I think it’s incredibly unlikely we see him move to Anfield this month or in the summer, he’s still an incredibly gifted player.
It’s such a shame he’s so injury prone because if he was able to somehow avoid the injuries that have held him back, he’d automatically be one of the best players in the Premier League.
He’s that good but unfortunately, his injury record is just too much of a red flag for the Reds to take a chance on him in my opinion.