Liverpool’s hopes of signing striker Moussa Dembele have been dashed after Lyon confirmed he would not be available for transfer.
The 22-year-old was in fine form in his first season with the Ligue 1 club, netting 23 goals in 52 games in all competitions.
His performances had made him a target for some of the bigger clubs across Europe, including Liverpool.
It had been suggested that a fee of around £30 million would be enough to tempt ‘Les Gones’ into doing business.
Any chance of a deal, though, has now come to an end after Lyon’s sporting director Juninho insisted the French striker would not be allowed to leave.
A report in today’s Daily Record quotes Juninho as saying:
There will only be three departures from the club this summer and they won’t be either Moussa Dembele or Memphis Depay.
Moussa’s form has been a nice surprise for us this season. He’s very good technically and we want to build on that. We want to keep him and we will.
The announcement also ends speculation over Memphis Depay’s future. The Dutch forward is another player on the books at Lyon who had been heavily linked with a move to the Reds but it seems as though that is unlikely to happen.
