Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool will set record straight with Villa
John Barnes believes Liverpool fans "should be excited" about the prospect of Ousmane Dembele moving to Anfield in the summer. Dembele faces an uncertain future at Barcelona with little over a year left on his contract.
He was strongly linked with a move to Manchester United last summer with reports suggesting that Dembele wasn't in Ronald Koeman's plans.
United wanted to bring Dembele on a season-long loan, but it was suggested that Barcelona were only willing to accept a deal if there was an obligation to buy at the end of the year.
Talks eventually died down with the France international staying at the Nou Camp and he's enjoyed a relatively strong season.
But with just a few months to go until the summer transfer window reopens, Dembele's future is up in the air once again with seemingly no progress on a contract extension at Barcelona.
"Of all the players linked with Liverpool, he is a player that fans should be excited about.
"If he wants to continue playing at the biggest clubs like Barcelona then Liverpool is the right club for him.
"He’s a player that fits the way Liverpool plays and I think that Liverpool would be interested in that type of player."
Any potential signing in the forward positions for a player of the same calibre as Dembele would raise questions on the futures of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino.
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Ousmane Dembele has just one year left on his contract (Image: GETTY)
Salah in particular has been linked with a move away from Anfield with Real Madrid supposedly interested.
But Barnes doesn't think Dembele joining would see Liverpool having to sell one of their star forwards.
"I can’t see a reason for any of the front three to leave because they like it at Liverpool and things are going well," he added.
"I don’t think there’s a reason any of the front three need to feel they have to leave to fulfil their ambitions because they’ve won the league and the Champions League so it’s hard to say what more they want.
"In terms of the potential to be successful, they won’t get it much better anywhere else, it’s just a question of whether they feel they want a new challenge. Some of them are coming up to 28/29 and sometimes players move on."