Barcelona Rule Out Dembele Loan, To The Shock Of No One

Also, water is wet, y’all.

As reported yesterday, the Ousmane Dembele loan deal that was floating about the interwebs always seemed like a reach for a variety of reasons. And now, Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde has come out to publicly rubbish the claims.

“We have to realize he just got here. He’s had some injuries and getting playing time in our team is not easy,” Valverde said.

“He’s an incredible talent, technically outstanding, he’s quick, a difference-maker.

“Maybe he needs to work on defence a little bit and some other areas. Maybe putting on pressure after we lose the ball.

“But we know he’s young, he’s had a tough season and we hope he will continue to develop next year.”

A sarcastic quip by Jurgen Klopp was enough to give this bit of rumor mongering a bit of air for a few days, and as we know by now, flat-out denials by Valverde and Barcelona will only keep the story in the news. You cannot kill a rumor. Denials only make it grow stronger.

As exciting as the prospect of Dembele to Liverpool would be were it true (which again, it very much is not), Liverpool fans are far more interested in the Nabil Fekir rumors, which appear to be inching closer to some semblance of reality.

So, forget about Dembele (until next transfer window, once a Liverpool link, etc, etc), and get back to refreshing Twitter every 30 seconds for Fekir news.

Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com