Barcelona Want Man City's $113M Star In Camp Nou As Dembele's Replacement: Report

FC Barcelona are reportedly monitoring Raheem Sterling’s contract situation at Manchester City as they are looking at the Englishman as an ideal replacement for Ousmane Dembele.

Barcelona are confident of raising funds this summer to make a big name signing, and Sterling is one of their top targets for the same, unnamed sources have informed Spanish publication The Sport. However, International Business Times could not verify it independently.

Sterling, who is contracted with Manchester City until 2023, did not play as much as he would like to toward the end of the 2020-21 season, and is expected to consider a move away from the Etihad Stadium this summer.

The former Liverpool winger would only hear offers from a club that guarantees Champions League football, according to soccer website Football Insider. The report has further stated Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola will be willing to sell Sterling if the player’s asking price of around $113 million is met. Moreover, the Premier League champions are looking to sign Aston Villa captain Jack Grealish, who can play at Sterling’s position in the Manchester City team.

Sterling, who has been associated with City since 2015, has netted a tally of 114 goals and provided 88 assists in 292 matches for the club, across all competitions.

Meanwhile, French winger Dembele is contracted with Barcelona until 2022. While the club wants to renew the player’s contract, Dembele has not shown any urgency of signing an extension and as a result, the winger has been put on the transfer market and Barcelona are ready to listen to offers for the 24-year-old player.

If Dembele does leave Barcelona this summer, the Catalans are considering Sterling as an ideal replacement for the former, according to The Sport.

It was previously reported Barcelona wanted to sell Dembele to Manchester United in order to raise funds for one of Ronald Koeman’s top targets Memphis Depay of Lyon. However, Dembele refused to leave the Camp Nou side at the last minute, leaving the club furious as their plans around Depay were disrupted.

Even though Dembele’s current market value curve is on a decline, his sale this summer could still fetch Barcelona around $58 million, according to Transfermarkt.

In 44 competitive appearances for Barcelona in the 2020-21 campaign, Dembele netted 11 goals and set up five more. He finished third on the list of leading goalscorers for Barcelona this season, behind leader Lionel Messi (38) and his fellow France national Antoine Griezmann (20).