Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp wants Ousmane Dembele as Barcelona set £85m transfer price (Image: Getty)
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp wants to sign £85million-rated Barcelona forward Ousmane Dembele, according to reports in Spain. Liverpool broke the record for the best start to a season by any team in the top five European leagues after their 1-0 win over Tottenham on Saturday night - but Klopp is in no mood to rest on his laurels.
Moussa Dembele is currently sidelined until February with a knee injury (Image: Getty)
The report goes on to say that Klopp feels Dembele can offer something different to his current attacking trio of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane.
Barcelona are willing to sell the winger, whose attitude has raised concerns at times, but will demand £85m (€100m).
The Catalans feel that money received for Dembele could part-finance a bid for Paris Saint-Germain striker Neymar, who was intensely linked with a return to Barcelona last summer.
Liverpool would likely be hesitant to break their transfer record, which currently stands at £75m, on Dembele, though.
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That said, the Reds’ kitty could be more sizeable next season following their new kit deal with Nike.
The 18-time champions of England will bank a base £30m per season from the deal but receive 20 per cent of shirt and merchandise sales on top of that.
The average portion taken by clubs is 7.5 per cent and reports have suggested that Liverpool’s annual intake from the deal could actually reach the £100m mark.
Other high-profile forwards to have been linked with Liverpool this season are Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho and Kylian Mbappe of PSG.
Ousmane Dembele 'needs to get his act together' says Moreno
Klopp discussed the possibility of Sancho last week, saying: “He’s a very good player. I have no clue where these kind of things [the rumours] are coming from, but it cannot come from us because we never speak about it.
“If we would be involved, nobody would know about it apart from a person who wouldn’t speak about it. There’s nothing to say.
“I know how it sounds, but I cannot change that. There’s nothing to say about it, which can mean there’s absolutely nothing to say about it.”
Speaking about Mbappe in November, Klopp said: “Buying this calibre of player is difficult. I don't see any club at the moment who can buy Kylian Mbappe from PSG.
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“I don't see any club, that is how it is. And we are involved in the clubs that cannot do it. It is as easy as that.
"OK, from a sporting point of view, there are not a lot of reasons to not sign him. What a player he is. But it is about the money of course. No chance. Absolutely no chance. Sorry for killing that story."