Liverpool Ready To Splash Club Record Transfer Fee On Star Player

Premier League giants Liverpool have concluded plans to bid a club-record transfer fee of £85m for Barcelona winger Ousmane Dembele ahead of the January transfer window.

The 21-year-old has struggled to live up to his expensive price tag with the Spanish champions thereby leading to rumours about his long-term future at the Nou Camp.

The planned Liverpool bid eclipses the £75m transfer fee that the Reds paid fellow Premier League side Southampton for Dutch international centre-back Virgil Van Dijk in the penultimate transfer window in the New Year.

Ousmane Dembele became the most expensive U21 player in world football when he joined Spanish giants Barcelona last summer.

He has since been eclipsed by French international teammate Kylian Mbappe following his permanent transfer from AS Monaco to PSG.

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Five-time European champions Barcelona paid at least €105m which could go as high as €140m depending on add-ons.

Dembele struggled with injuries in his first season in Spain and that affected his output.

The France World Cup winner has overcome his fitness problems in the new campaign but disciplinary issues have thrown his Barcelona in doubt.

Apart from Merseyside giants Liverpool, Premier League sides like Arsenal and Chelsea have been linked with the French winger.