Liverpool Contact $113M Forward Amid Sadio Mane’s Departure Rumors [Details]

Liverpool FC are reportedly interested in signing FC Barcelona forward Ousmane Dembele.

Dembele’s contract with Barcelona is set to expire in a month and the Frenchman has still not decided on his future.

He currently has a number of proposals on his plate with Liverpool becoming the latest club to approach him. The Reds have contacted Dembele’s representatives enquiring about the player’s current contract situation at Barcelona, reported Spanish outlet The Sport.

The other clubs that are interested in landing Dembele are Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).

Now that the sale of Chelsea to Todd Boehly's consortium edges closer following approval from both the Premier League and the U.K. government, Thomas Tuchel’s side is close to securing a deal with Dembele, according to Mundo Deportivo. A move to Chelsea would reunite Dembele and Tuchel with whom he worked at Borussia Dortmund.

Barcelona paid $113 million for Dembele in the summer of 2017 and is the joint-eighth most expensive player, along with Paul Pogba, in European soccer to date.

Meanwhile, Liverpool are on a hunt for a forward as the future of their key players Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah are yet to be decided. While Salah has confirmed that he’ll continue at Anfield in 2022-23, there have been reports about Mane leaving the club in the 2022 summer.

After missing the initial part of the 2021-22 campaign with knee and hamstring injuries, Dembele produced impressive performances in the latter phase, scoring two goals and providing 13 assists. He played a key role in helping Barcelona finish second in the 2021-22 La Liga after the Catalans went through a turbulent phase for the majority of months of the season, which was their first without Lionel Messi.

Overall, Dembele has netted 32 goals and 34 assists in 150 appearances for Barcelona across all competitions.