Barcelona have had a £90million bid accepted for Borussia Dortmund star Ousmane Dembele, though some negotiations over add-ons continue to hold the transfer up.
The France international forward has been strongly linked with a host of top clubs this summer after a superb debut season in the Bundesliga last term.
Arsenal also had a bid rejected for Dembele, while Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola was reported to have held talks with the player earlier in the summer.
Manchester United, Chelsea and Real Madrid have also all shown an interest, but the player’s personal preference to move to Barca looks to be proving the decisive factor as he closes in on a move.
The 20-year-old recently admitted it was a pleasure to be linked with the Catalan giants and old footage has emerged of him describing them as his dream club during his days at Rennes.
Barcelona have identified Dembele as the ideal replacement for Neymar after his £199m move to Paris Saint-Germain and now look to be edging closer to completing a deal.
According to Sport, Dortmund have accepted an initial offer of £90m but want as much as £27m more in potential add-ons in the future, which Barcelona hope they can negotiate down.
Dembele recently went AWOL from Dortmund training in a bid to force through his transfer to the Nou Camp, with his club confirming over the weekend that he was now suspended until further notice.
It now looks as though he will get his desired move to Barcelona, who are also in the hunt for a new midfielder and have been chasing Liverpool playmaker Philippe Coutinho.
Still, with clubs knowing full well how much they have to spend after Neymar’s release clause was triggered by PSG, they will struggle not to pay over the odds for any of their top targets.
Dembele joined Dortmund for just £13m little over a year ago but will become the second most expensive footballer of all time if he moves for his current reported fee.
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