Manchester United May Not Be Able To Sign Barcelona’s $155M Forward In January: Report

Manchester United reportedly will not be able to sign Ousmane Dembele once again in January as FC Barcelona prepare to give their out-of-favor forward a bigger role in the absence of injured Ansu Fati.

Dembele, who forced his stay at Barcelona at the recently ended summer transfer window, could feature regularly in Ronald Koeman’s starting XI from here on after Fati was ruled out for four months at least, as reported by Spanish publication SPORT.

Barcelona had planned to offload Dembele this summer in order to clear funds for Koeman’s top target Memphis Depay of Lyon. Manchester United even came close to signing Dembele on an initial loan move with a compulsory purchase option. However, the Frenchman decided to stay at Camp Nou and not head to Old Trafford, therefore, leaving the Catalans furious.

The SPORT report revealed that Koeman and Barca's coaches don't like Dembele’s "tactical disorder and anarchy" on the pitch. Even then, the 23-year-old forward is set to replace Ansu Fati as a regular member of Barcelona.

Fati, who has scored five goals and provided four assists this season, suffered a knee injury in Barcelona's 5-2 win over Real Betis in La Liga Saturday. He was forced off the field at half-time and was replaced by Lionel Messi, who went on to score twice in the game. Dembele, who opened the scoring in the match Saturday, has one and a half years left in his current contract with Barcelona and is believed to be in no hurry to sign an extension.

Moreover, Barcelona could face a major financial crunch if they fail to convince Dembele to sign a new deal next year, considering they signed him for a fee of $155 million from Borussia Dortmund. It is understood that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will still be interested in signing Dembele if a move for Jadon Sancho does not happen in the coming transfer windows. Barcelona certainly would not want to lose Dembele for free to a club like Man Utd.