Manchester City have been offered the chance to sign both Ousmane Dembele and Sergi Roberto by Barcelona as part of a multiple-player swap deal, according to Sunday Times journalist Duncan Castles.
Barca are keen on taking Bernardo Silva and Joao Cancelo in the other direction, with Castles saying the exchanges are designed to avoid Financial Fairplay penalties:
Bernardo Silva wants to leave Manchester City and has two offers in La Liga. One from Atletico; second from Barcelona.
Understand that Barca are also pursuing Joao Cancelo, and proposing ‘FFP swap’ deals. Options include Sergi Roberto + Ousmane Dembele. https://t.co/LD9T9HEdOD https://t.co/ewwDnZKvGV pic.twitter.com/EJlsm1fyai— Duncan Castles (@DuncanCastles) June 12, 2021
It is fair to say that Castles has a patchy record when it comes to transfer stories so take this report with a large pinch of salt. Roberto has been mentioned as a potential target for City in the Spanish press as well, although there has been little to no talk about him in the English media.
Dembele has been heavily linked with Manchester United, Chelsea and Juventus as he has one year remaining on his contract, so it is possible he could be offered in exchange for Silva.
In terms of outgoings, Silva is definitely one of the players who wants to leave the Etihad so a move to Spain is a possibility, but it would be a surprise if manager Pep Guardiola wanted to let go of Cancelo.