Barcelona Transfer Rumors 2017: Barça Close to Completing Deals for Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembélé

By Noriel See, Christian Post Contributor Thursday, August 17, 2017

After another heartbreaking Supercopa de España loss to rivals Real Madrid, Barcelona general manager Pep Segura gave the fans a glimmer of hope by revealing that they were closing in on the signatures of Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembélé.

"We know that we have to strengthen the team and that's what we will continue to do in the coming days," Segura said on Catalan television station TV3, via ESPN FC.

"We have to help the team. We're close [to Coutinho and Dembele], we're talking about the conditions but until everything is finalised, we can't say anything else. We hope they will wear a Barca shirt," he added.

According to reports from Spain, Borussia Dortmund have already accepted Barcelona's €100 million (around £91 million) upfront offer for Dembélé, but add-ons are still being negotiated with Dortmund asking for an additional €30 million (around £27 million) based on the French forward's performance once after he moves to Camp Nou.

Dortmund suspended Dembélé after he missed practice last week to force a move to Barcelona.

Meanwhile, convincing Liverpool to part ways with Coutinho won't be easy. The Reds have already turned down two bids from Barcelona, but Goal has reported that the Catalan giants are not giving up and they are prepared to lodge a €130 million (around £119 million) bid for the Brazilian footballer.

Interestingly, previous reports have mentioned that Barça were willing to spend €150 million (around £137 million) for Coutinho. The Reds refused to let him leave even after he handed in a formal transfer request last week.

Barcelona will have to spend a lot of the money to bring both of them to Camp Nou, but they need to sign Coutinho and Dembélé if they want to increase their chances of beating Real Madrid. Both players can give Barcelona a much-needed attacking boost.