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Chelsea chief holds transfer talks with Barcelona ace Ousmane Dembele's agent
Chelsea are interested in signing Ousmane Dembele from Barcelona after their transfer ban was reduced.
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Chelsea are holding talks with Barcelona star Ousmane Dembele’s agent after having their FIFA transfer ban reduced following an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. That is according to Italian football journalist Nicolo Schira, who claims that Dembele’s representatives were in contact with the Blues’ director Marina Granovskaia last week.
#Chelsea is interested in Ousmane #Dembelè. Last week his agent has talked with Marina Granovskaia
This comes after CAS halved the London giants’ transfer ban to one window, which was served during the summer, and that means they will be allowed to sign players next month.
The Premier League side were slapped with a two-window ban by FIFA in February for breaching rules on signing young players.
The Stamford Bridge outfit’s fine was also reduced from 600,000 to 300,000 Swiss francs (£230,000).
Dembele appears to have joined the list of Chelsea’s targets, which also reportedly includes the likes of Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha, Leicester ace Ben Chilwell, Borussia Dortmund forward Jadon Sancho and more.
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Schira tweeted: “#Chelsea is interested in Ousmane #Dembelè. Last week his agent has talked with Marina Granovskaia.”
Manager Frank Lampard is pleased with CAS’ decision but remained coy regarding the club’s transfer strategy as he claims this is a “discussion we can take up".
Lampard said: “It's a positive outcome for us.
"It allows us the potential to look at the market going forward.
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"So I'm pleased from a footballing level. It was never my business to get involved in the reasons why or the legal side of it."
Dembele rose to prominence during his one-year stint at Dortmund where he scored 10 goals in 50 appearances.
The winger then moved to Barcelona in 2017 on a staggering £135.5million move.
However, the 22-year-old has struggled to stand out at the Nou Camp with just 19 goals in 74 appearances.
The France international is also expected to be out of action until February due to a hamstring injury.
This comes after Lampard recently admitted that he would be interested in signing new players in January if their ban was lifted.
The Chelsea boss insists he is happy with his current squad but won’t hold back from making any necessary changes.
Lampard said: “As Chelsea we will always look to improve in windows if we can.
“If we're allowed to and if the players we might look at are better or we feel are adding to the squad.
“I’m interested in what happens because it's going to affect what we can do in January or not.
“At the moment, I'm very happy with what I've got and hopefully the fans are as well.”