Dortmund Rejects Barcelona's Bid for Ousmane Dembele, Confirms Transfer Talks
Borussia Dortmund have confirmed that they have rejected an offer from Barcelona for French wonderkid Ousmane Dembele.
The Bundesliga giants released a statement regarding the Spanish heavyweights' ongoing interest in their star forward, with the Independent's sports editor Ed Malyon tweeting what Dortmund had stated in brief.
The German outfit explained that talks had been held between representatives of both clubs about a possible transfer that would see Dembele complete a move to the Nou Camp but, with Barcelona failing to bid a sufficient amount of cash for the 20-year-old, Dortmund - who are believed to be holding out for a huge fee of £135m - opted to rebuff La Blaugrana's advances.
The latest development comes just hours after Dortmund revealed that Dembele had missed their latest training session on Thursday morning as rumours continued to circulate about his impending departure from the Westfalenstadion.
Die Borussia boss Peter Bosz confirmed to reporters that the club had lost contact with the former Rennes star, but hoped that it was just a mere coincidence rather than some form of scheming on his agent's part.
Bosz had said: "Dembele was in training today. We have tried to reach him and hope that nothing bad has happened."
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Barcelona are keen to land a replacement for the departed Neymar as soon as possible following the £200m world-record sale of the Brazilian to Paris Saint-Germain.
The 25-year-old stunned Barcelona by stating his desire to leave in pursuit of a new challenge, and was granted the chance to talk with PSG and shake hands on his astronomical transfer.
The Copa del Rey holders have since been linked with a number of other world class players such as Chelsea's Eden Hazard and Juventus' Paulo Dybala, but it is Dembele and a compatriot of Neymar who have been touted to join Valverde's side in the near future.
Alongside Dembele, Barcelona have also seen a £90m offer for Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho rejected outright, but they are likely to return to both Dortmund and the Reds with improved bids in time.
