Arsenal gets transfer blow as their target now wants to renew his current deal

Barcelona and Ousmane Dembele will continue their relationship beyond next season which means Arsenal cannot sign the Frenchman this summer.

He has been a long-term target of the Gunners and as he entered the last months of his current deal, Arsenal had hoped to complete a move for him.

Dembele looked set to leave Catalunya for a cheap fee as he couldn’t reach an agreement with Barca over an extension.

But Todofichajes says the Spaniards remain keen to sell him instead of losing him for nothing next summer.

The plan was to freeze him out of the first-team picture if he didn’t sign a new deal.

But that would be bad for both the club and the player and they have now agreed to continue their relationship.

The report says his deal would be extended so that Barca can earn some money from his sale next summer.

This development would come as a transfer blow for Arsenal who have had a fine summer transfer window so far.

It remains unclear if Barca would accept a big-money offer for him in this transfer window.

If that were to be possible, Arsenal might still struggle to sign him unless they offload some of their current options.