Barcelona Star Ousmane Dembele Reportedly Not Keen on the Potential Signing of Philippe Coutinho

Barcelona star Ousmane Dembele does not want Liverpool star Philippe Coutinho to join the Catalan giants, according to Don Balon.

The Frenchman is not keen on the Brazilian making a move to the Nou Camp, as it would potentially hinder the ex-Borussia Dortmund man's playing time.

Dembele signed for Barcelona in the summer for a club-record fee of £96m. The France international was brought in to replace Neymar Jr. who made a world-record £200m move to PSG in the summer.

The report also claims that Dembele told his close friends that he hopes that the deal for Coutinho falls through. Dembele has barely featured for Barcelona this season, mostly down to injury. 

The Catalan giants face Celta Vigo, in the first leg of their last 16 Copa del Rey tie on Thursday night, and the French winger is reportedly set to make his long awaited return against the Celticos.

It is quite strange to hear this news coming out of the Barcelona camp. With the likes of Denis Suarez and Ivan Rakitic failing to produce this season, many would believe that the signing of Coutinho would be welcomed with opened arms by the Barcelona players, but in the case of Dembele this does not seem to be the case.

As for Liverpool, they will need to forget the ongoing rumours of a possible transfer away for Coutinho and focus their attention on their upcoming FA Cup third round fixture against local rivals Everton on Friday night.