Barcelona speak out on Dembele to Arsenal rumours

The Barcelona coach, Ernesto Valverde, has put an end to speculation we could make a summer move for winger Ousmane Dembele, stating he remains a key component of his squad.

Signed for an jaw-dropping £135 million last summer as a replacement for Neymar, Dembele has failed to live up to expectations at the Camp Nou and failed to make any impact on the first team, partly due to his long list of injuries.

And that led to speculation we could swoop in and offer him an £88 million escape route, with Emery reportedly in the transfer market for a fast, direct winger that will take the defender on rather than stand-him up and pass it, thinking of a certain Alex Iwobi.

Indeed, speculation continued to grow over the past week after Barca splashed out and spent a good chunk of money to acquire the services of Brazilian star Malcom from Bordeaux, who is tipped to develop into a real top-class winger.

But despite all the speculation and crazy rumours that Barca are willing to let Dembele leave for a cut-priced fee, or even on-loan, Valverde is adamant that Dembele will get his chance to prove himself at the La Liga Champions.

Velverde said: ‘Let’s hope it’s his season,’.

‘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.’

We have seen Emery spend a lot more money than the £50 million he was supposedly going to get at the beginning of the transfer window, and so far I have been impressed with the signings of the Spaniard.

So the news Dembele will not be coming to the Emirates in the coming weeks will come as a big relief, the 21-year old still has a lot to prove to be worth the £88 million we would have to spend to nail down his signature and I would prefer Emery saved his money and spent it on a player that can make an impact at the club now, not in two or three years time.