Barcelona are closing in on the signings Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele from Borussia Dortmund.
Barca sporting manager Pep Segura has confirmed to Spanish television station TV3, as per Reuters, that the club are discussing terms with the attacking duo.
Speaking after Wednesday’s 2-0 defeat to Real Madrid in the second leg of the Spanish Super Cup that gave their big rivals a 5-1 aggregate victory he said:
“We are close to Coutinho and Dembele – we are discussing their conditions but we do not know when they will be sealed. We hope they will be Barcelona players this season.”
Barcelona are eager to replace forward Neymar following his world record £198 million move to Paris Saint-Germain earlier this month.
Both players have made it known they want to move to the Nou Camp this summer.
Coutinho has told Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp he won’t play for the club again, even if it costs him his World Cup place, while Dembele has been suspended by Dortmund after missing training following speculation of a possible move to Spain.
Barcelona desperately need to strengthen their squad after being comprehensively defeated by Madrid in the Super Cup.
Marco Asensio gave Madrid an early lead with an excellent 25-yard effort and Karim Benzema’s fine strike sealed a comfortable 5-1 aggregate success.
PSG appeared to take great delight from Barca’s misfortune by trolling the Spanish giants on Twitter.
— PSG English (@PSG_English) August 16, 2017
They first tweeted a picture of Neymar and fellow former Barcelona star Dani Alves working out, then followed up with a photo of the Brazilian laughing.
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