Ousmane Dembele showcases incredible skills for Barcelona
Barcelona forward Dembele has been heavily linked with Arsenal as speculation over his Nou Camp future continues to rumble on.
The France international could leave the Nou Camp in the wake of the Catalan giants' signing of Malcom, who signed from Bordeaux at the end of last month.
However, Football London have now shed some light on whether or not a move to Arsenal from Barcelona can actually happen.
Dembele has sent fans into overdrive by being snapped in London with Gunners stars Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette.
Yet journalist Charles Watts, talking in a Twitter Q&A, says Arsenal will only be able to land Dembele on loan - and that looks a stretch.
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He told Football London when asked how close the Gunners were to signing Dembele: “Not close.
“Sven Mislintat would love to get him, but Barca are adamant he is not going anyway.
“Should that stance change and he suddenly become available next week, then I’m sure Arsenal would ask the question - but I can’t see anyway how it could be any other deal other than a loan. They just couldn’t afford him.
“I wouldn’t get your hopes up.”
Dembele signed for Barcelona from Borussia Dortmund in a huge £134million deal last summer.
Ousmane Dembele: Arsenal would struggle to afford wages
He failed to hit the heights many expected, though, hitting just four goals across all competitions.
Reports in the past have claimed Ernesto Valverde has lost patience with Dembele - which is why he went for Malcom.
But, speaking last week, Valverde labelled the 21-year-old as ‘extraordinary.’
“Let’s hope it’s his season,” said Valverde.
“He is an extraordinary player. The past year has been complicated because of the injuries, but even so he has brought us a lot.
“The important thing is that there is competition within the team. There are a lot of matches and we can not handle them with only eleven players.”
Arsenal have already made five signings so far this summer.
Stephan Lichtsteiner, Bernd Leno, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi have all arrived.
Unai Emery would love to sign a winger, though, but Dembele seems out of his reach for now.