Manchester United ahead of Chelsea, Juventus, Liverpool as move for Barcelona star hots up

Reports in Spain claim that Manchester United have the edge over Juventus, Chelsea and Liverpool in the race to sign Ousmane Dembele, who could leave Barcelona as a free agent in the summer.

The Frenchman sees his contract expire at the end of the season and according to Sport.es, he doesn’t seem willing to sign a contract extension with the La Liga giants.

Barcelona can’t offer him a pay rise due to the club’s financial struggles. Theref0re, Dembele may not sign a new deal with the Catalans.

Sport stated that Man Utd are pressing to seal the signing of the former Borussia Dortmund star.

The Spanish news source have mentioned that the 20-time English champions were very close to capturing the winger on loan last year.

The player reached an agreement with United but Barca blocked the deal as they wanted him to sign an extension first.

Since then, it is claimed that Man Utd have consistently maintained contacts and could finally end up signing Dembele.

According to the report, October will be a decisive month for the former Borussia Dortmund star as Barcelona are in a hurry to know his plans for the future.

A contract extension offer is already on the table, but Dembele is not willing to put his signature on it.

However, Dembele refused to extend his contract with the Blaugrana, which was one of the conditions for his temporary move to Old Trafford.

Juventus, Chelsea and Liverpool are also mentioned as possible destinations for the French winger who joined Barcelona in a €135m deal from Borussia Dortmund in 2017.

The 24-year-old is currently out of action with an injury and has yet to make his season debut.

He has scored 18 goals and delivered 14 assists in 81 appearances with the Catalans.