Barcelona Plan Ousmane Dembele Swap Deal for Neymar as Frenchman Allegedly Asks to Leave Camp Nou

Barcelona are planning to use wantaway forward Ousmane Dembele as leverage in their attempts to bring Neymar back to Camp Nou.

Dembele has struggled to settle since his €145m (£135.5m) move from Borussia Dortmund in 2017, and he has now reportedly asked Barcelona to allow him to leave in January.

Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/GettyImages

This news should come as a boost to Premier League rivals Arsenal and Liverpool, who were both linked with a move for Dembele throughout the summer and could renew their interest in light of this latest update.

However, Goal reports that Barcelona have others plans for the Frenchman, preferring to use him as a makeweight to facilitate the return of Neymar, less than two years after he left the club to join Paris Saint-Germain in controversial circumstances.

Preliminary discussions about a transfer offer consisting of Dembele and a substantial cash sum have already taken place, with Neymar keen to force through a move back to his old hunting ground.

Barcelona general manager Pep Segura last week denied that Dembele would be leaving the Spanish champions in the near future as he responded to reports of interest from Liverpool.

Dembele has been in good form for Barcelona this season, scoring five La Liga goals for Ernesto Valverde's side including a last minute equaliser against Atletico Madrid on Saturday.

JAVIER SORIANO/GettyImages

However, his attitude has come into question after reports that he missed a training session following an all-night gaming session with his friends.

Dembele and Neymar were at one time the two most expensive players in the world, although Kylian Mbappe and Philippe Coutinho have since climbed above Dembele in those rankings.