Ousmane Dembele looks unlikely to join Liverpool or any other club after comments from Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu.
The Metro write that Dembele, who moved to Spain for £110m last summer, was a long-term acquisition and will be involved with the Catalan giants next season.
The Frenchman endured a difficult debut season with the club, making just 15 starts, but scoring four times and providing six assists in the process.
Dembele only spent one season with Borussia Dortmund and current Arsenal head of recruitment Sven Mislintat was pivotal in him joining the German outfit.
That led to rumours that the Gunners were keen to sign the 21-year-old on loan this summer, with Jurgen Klopp’s side also being linked with an approach.
Speaking about Dembele and another new signing and former Liverpool star Phillipe Coutinho, Bartomeu said:
[Philippe] Coutinho, [Ousmane] Dembele are for us a big investment. They are very important players and we expect a lot from them. But Dembele is a very young player, a very talented player that we are, of course, expecting a lot from.
He’s been demonstrating during the season that he’s a good young player for us. But, of course, next season will be different. It’s not easy to play in Barcelona the first year because the model of football is quite different from the rest. But after one year I’m sure we are going to see Dembele and Coutinho at a very high level.
Dembele will take part in this summer’s World Cup in Russia having been named in France’s 23-man squad by manager Didier Deschamps.
Klopp has already added to his squad in the last couple of weeks, with Naby Keita and Fabinho set to join the club from RB Leipzig and Monaco respectively on 1 July.
