Barcelona has reportedly been told to include Ousmane Dembele as part of the deal to sign Raheem Sterling from Manchester City.

According to a report by Catalan outlet El Nacional, Pep Guardiola is eager to bring in Ousmane Dembele to his squad. With that in mind, Manchester City is set to demand the French forward as part of the deal to sell Raheem Sterling to Barcelona.

Ousmane Dembele joined Barcelona from Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2017, arriving at Camp Nou as a long-term replacement for Neymar. However, in the four years that have followed, the 24-year-old has done little to live up to his billing, missing more matches than he has featured in so far.

To date, Dembele has made 118 appearances for Barcelona while garnering a tally of 30 goals and 21 assists in the process. The French forward, though, has not had any shortage of admirers despite his woeful fitness record. And as things stand, Manchester City is one of his potential suitors.

The interest from Manchester City is quite surprising, considering the player’s battles with injuries over the years. While theoretically, he could add a lot of value to the first-team setup at the Etihad and perhaps even fit in the mold of someone like Leroy Sane, fitness issues could peg him back, which does not make him a viable target for the Premier League champions.

Dembele could even be a long-term replacement for Raheem Sterling, who is being heavily linked with a move to Barcelona. In fact, it is the Blaugrana’s interest in the English attacker that has prompted Manchester City to consider a part-exchange deal involving the two players.

As per recent reports, Sterling is open to the prospect of joining Barcelona, who are reportedly set to open talks with Dembele over a new deal. However, with Manchester City set to demand the French international as part of the deal for Sterling, things could take an interesting turn, keeping Barcelona’s financial crunch in mind.

What now remains to be seen is if Barcelona are open to the prospect of including Dembele in the deal to bring Sterling to Camp Nou. If not, it will be interesting to see if the Premier League giants are happy to agree to a deal solely involving Sterling.

Source: Hard Tackle