Barcelona failure to sell Ousmane Dembele cost three clubs their transfers.
Barcelona bought Ousmane Dembele from Borussia Dortmund to be the replacement of departing superstar, Neymar Jr. The young French player could not live up to the expectations and is now causing even more problems in the Camp Nou. His refusal to leave Barcelona stopped three transfers for three different clubs.
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The 23-year-old has been the black sheep at Barca ever since he arrived, from his attitude problems, his antics on the training pitch to his regular injury problems, the talented winger could never unlock his true potential with the Spanish club. After making only nine appearances last season due to multiple injuries, it was not hard to see as to why the La Liga giants wanted to get rid of the player. However, Dembele had different plans.
The deal was set that Barca would sell the french star to Manchester United in order to facilitate the move of Memphis Depay from Lyon. Lyon would then use the money made from the Depay deal to sign Islam Slimani from Leicester City. The deal was all set and all Dembele had to do was to sign the paper which would make him a United player. However, even after all the papers had been finalized and Koeman telling the player that he was not a part of his plans, Dembele refused to sign and said he had no intention of leaving the club.
The decision effectively ruined three possible transfers and annoyed the Barca board to the core. The winger pulled off a similar stunt when the club tried to get Neymar back to the Catalan side only to learn that Dembele was not willing to move to Paris Saint-Germain. Dembele has stated that he wants to stay and fight for his place and while that is commendable, his antics are also hurting the club in a bigger fashion.