Chelsea could have quite the frightening attack if they snap up Ousmane Dembele this month. The Barcelona ace has been told he must leave by the end of the January transfer window after contract negotiations broke down at the Nou Camp.
Thomas Tuchel would have an electric attack if gets his man Dembele from Barcelona after reports broke that Chelsea have upped their efforts to sign the winger.
The Frenchman’s time at the Nou Camp looks over after contract talks broke down with just months left on his current deal.
Dembele will be free to leave in the summer for nothing after five years with the Blaugrana but Barca want him out immediately.
Club director Mateu Alemany sent a strong message to the winger, telling him that he is no wanted while Xavi has dropped him from the squad.
He said: “It’s clear that Dembele does not want to continue with Barcelona. He doesn’t want to be part of our project.
“We told Dembele he has to leave immediately. We expect Ousmane to be sold before January 31.”
It was reported that Chelsea are one of several clubs interested in snapping Dembele up this month, while the likes of Bayern Munich, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain are also keen.
The Blues have made a bid worth £12.5m as they look to take advantage of the fact that Barca want the France international gone before he leaves for nothing.
That is a dramatic decrease on the £135m the Catalan club forked out for his services in 2017 when they believed he could be the successor to Neymar.
While that has failed to come to fruition, Chelsea might be able to coax the hidden potential Dembele has with Tuchel at the helm.
It was the German coach who worked with him at Borussia Dortmund that convinced Barca to splash out a nine-figure sum.
And if the former Rennes ace does realise his best form at Stamford Bridge, it would come at a pivotal time for Tuchel, who is coming under pressure after just three wins in 11 Premier League matches.
Romelu Lukaku has looked desperately out of form, as has his supporting act in Christian Pulisic, Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech – though the latter did score against Brighton in Chelsea’s latest outing.
Nevertheless, the arrival of Dembele could spell bad news for could give the attack that is craving some direct threat a massive lift.
So, how could he line up at Chelsea with a fully fit squad?
Mendy; Chalobah, Silva, Rudiger; James, Jorginho, Kante, Chilwell; Mount, Lukaku, Dembele.