Malcom Arrival at Barcelona May Force Dembele’s Exit

Ousmane Dembele is reportedly ready to leave Barcelona this summer after learning the Catalan giants had signed Brazilian Malcom. Barcelona completed the £37million transfer deal for the Bordeaux forward on Wednesday and Malcom has now passed his medical. Dembele has been linked with Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea this summer, but it seemed all hope of a deal for the France international was doomed as the club did not want to sell and the attacker was not keen on a switch.

However, Dembele was upset to hear about Barcelona’s new addition as Malcom is a similar age and prefers to play on the right wing. That position puts Malcom in direct competition with Dembele, who also likes to play on the right, but can operate on either side of attack or behind the striker. Dembele is now exploring his options, according to Cope, which opens the door for his suitors to start making moves for his services.

Ernesto Valverde wanted a new forward and Malcom was signed after it became clear Chelsea were not going to lower their asking price for Willian. The Barcelona boss struggled to give Dembele the game time he craved after the 21-year-old missed much of the start of the season through injury. Dembele was also hurt not to receive a message of congratulations from Valverde after he lifted the World Cup with France.