Barca turn to Dembele and Dybala over Neymar transfer saga

BARCELONA are looking at Borussia Dortmund’s Ousmane Dembeleand Juventus’ Paulo Dybala as potential replacements for Paris SaintGermain-bound Neymar.

Senior Camp Nou officials and players were growing increasingly irritated by the stance taken by the Brazilian’s entourage, and turning to the idea that it would not be so damaging to let him go, even before he said goodbye.

While figures like Neymar’s prospective PSG teammate Dani Alves have made justifiable complaints about how they have been treated by the Camp Nou board in the past, there is still a feeling that they have generally bent over backwards for Neymar, and that this entire episode remains about finance rather than any actual sporting desire to go to Paris.

It has got to the point where some of the forward’s more senior teammates have become aggravated by the situation, and would currently see no great harm in him leaving, something that was very much not the case just two weeks ago.

Barca have therefore turned to alternatives in the event Neymar does leave for what would likely be a £163m deal, given that is his buy-out.

They have already started the process of trying to prise Philippe Coutinho from Liverpool, but he is not seen as a direct replacement for Neymar as they would then have the money to buy another elite striker.

Dybala has a close relationship with Lionel Messi, who he texts and plays computer games with regularly, but 20year-old Dembele is currently seen as much easier to purchase, and likely cheaper at around £70m. – The Independent