LIVERPOOL have been dealt a blow in their pursuit of Barcelona’s Ousmane Dembele.
It’s been widely reported Jurgen Klopp was so keen to bag the French winger, he was prepared to meet with the player’s mother to convince him to move to Anfield.
The Catalan giants shelled out a whopping £135.5million for the 21-year-old who moved to the Nou Camp after one season at Borussia Dortmund.
But his first year in Spain was dogged with injuries, restricting Dembele to just 17 La Liga appearances.
But a frustrating first season has not killed talk of a possible third move in three years.
However, Barca president Josep Bartomeu has dismissed speculation the French international will be sold after a year in Catalonia.
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On a trip to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston he said: “(Philippe) Coutinho, Dembele are for us a big investment.
“They are very important players and we expect a lot from them.
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“Coutinho probably in the last four months has been very active for the team.
“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 scored for the French as they beat Italy 3-1 on Friday in Nice.
France kick-off their World Cup campaign against Australia on June 16 in Kazan.
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