Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele to Barcelona? Spanish giants close to £209million double deal
Barca ready to splash out £100m on Dortmund talent Dembele plus a further £108.8m on Liverpool ace Coutinho
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BARCELONA are ready to replace Neymar within a week of him leaving by spending £209million on Ousmane Dembele and Philippe Coutinho.
The Spanish giants fought tooth and nail in an attempt to keep the Brazilian superstar at the Nou Camp before he joined Paris Saint-Germain for £198m last week.
But they are wasting no time replacing the forward - as they close in on getting two world class players for the price of one.
Reports in Germany suggest a delegation from the La Liga club have visited Borussia Dortmund today finalising a £100m deal for brilliant youngster Dembele.
And sources in Spain also suggest a fee has been agreed in principle with Liverpool which will see Coutinho leave Anfield in a package worth £108.8m.
All the reports suggest Barca want to get both deals over the line by the end of this week as they make an emphatic statement that they can easily survive without Neymar.
Mundo Deportivo in Spain and SportBild in Germany both claim Barca chief executive Oscar Grau has led a delegation of club officials to Dortmund to finalise terms over the Dembele deal.
And Grau has also been talking with Liverpool officials where ESPN in Spain claim he has finally agreed a fee suitable to the Reds for Coutinho.
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The Dembele transfer could even be announced by Wednesday, with the 20-year-old winger seemingly already preparing for the move by removing any link to Dortmund on his social media bio.
They are then hoping to fly in to Merseyside tomorrow to conclude negotiations with Liverpool for a deal which will make Coutinho the second most expensive player in world football history.
It is understood that the player told Liverpool yesterday he would prefer to make the move to Spain if a deal could be agreed between the two clubs.
That appears to have softened the Merseyside club’s stance from their original position of insisting their star player was not for sale.
Liverpool are now claimed to have reluctantly accepted Barca’s offer, which will see an initial fee of £81.6m being paid for the 25-year-old – although publicly the club are still briefing no deal has been agreed.
There is then a bonus package which has the potential to see the Reds rake in a further £27.2m in extra payments over the duration of his time with Barca.
Should Dembele's move go through it would see Dortmund make a huge profit on a player who has only played 32 games for the club.
The French international had been chased by a number of Europe's top sides a year ago before he joined the Bundesliga club in a £12m deal from Rennes.
But after just one year in Germany, Barca are now ready to make Dortmund an £88m profit on the 20-year-old who is regarded as one of the best young talents in the world.
Clinching a double of Coutinho and Dembele would also make for excellent transfer business by the Catalan club, who will have replace Neymar with two world class talents.
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