Barcelona must meet our Dembele demands – Dortmund

Borussia Dortmund have told Barcelona to meet their demands or forget about signing Ousmane Dembele.

Barca have only a few days left to succeed in their attempts to sign the France international winger before the transfer window closes.


Dortmund have already rejected a Barcelona offer for Dembele, reported to be around €100 million, but have said they are willing to sell if their price is met.

They are reported to be holding out for a fee in the region of €140m, and sporting director Michael Zorc told kicker: “We have made our ideas quite clear to them. Either Barcelona meets them or they do not.”

Kicker reported that last week Barcelona had slightly improved their first bid of €80m plus €25m in add-ons, but CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke said there had been “nothing since.”

Watzke added: “They don’t need to make another bid. We mean what we say.”

Both Watzke and Zorc will attend the Champions League draw in Monaco, and while they could meet Barcelona officials there Zorc stressed that the visit had nothing to do with Dembele.

“The draw’s the only reason. I just wanted to finally make the trip,” he said.

BVB stocks have reached a 16-year high, climbing 2.9 percent on Wednesday to €7.16, their highest market rate since 2001.

“Investors are increasingly placing bets on Barcelona improving their bid,” an unnamed trader was quoted as saying in Die Welt.

Meanwhile, Borussia Dortmund and Chinese Super League club Shandong Luneng have signed an “exclusive partnership,” with marketing executive Carsten Cramer quoted as saying by AFP: “We are not only a club playing a friendly, asking for some money then rushing out of the country.

“Without a partnership with a club I am very sure that we can’t reach credibility among the population of China.”