Chelsea’s Ousmane Dembele transfer interest vindicated as Barcelona star tops Mason Mount

The transfer window is now open and for Chelsea, it’s the start of what is set to be a hectic summer for the club off the pitch. The Blues will aim to close the 18-point gap to Liverpool next season, but with the Reds strengthening, Chelsea need to follow suit in the coming weeks.

Liverpool are expected to complete a big-money move for Benfica forward Darwin Nunez in the very near future, while Premier League champions Manchester City have already signed Erling Haaland. One man Chelsea are interested in signing to hopefully improve their chances of mounting a serious title challenge next term is Ousmane Dembele.

There have already been talks between the Blues and the 25-year-old winger’s entourage, football.london understands. However, there is nothing advanced at the time of writing.

READ MORE: How ‘bizarre’ Ousmane Dembele changed his lifestyle as Chelsea seek Barcelona transfer

Dembele’s history with injuries could play a part in whether Chelsea decide to continue their pursuit or not, but the talent the France international has at his disposal is undeniable. As per a statistic from @ExpectedChelsea on Twitter, Dembele’s expected assists (xA) per 90 minutes is 0.56.

Mason Mount and Hakim Ziyech are the Chelsea attackers that come the closest to that, but their xA is still some way off with 0.27. Next it’s Callum Hudson-Odoi (0.23), Kai Havertz (0.13), Christian Pulisic (0.09) and Timo Werner (0.02).

Dembele finished the season with 13 assists to his name in La Liga after missing the majority of the first half of the campaign with a knee injury he suffered last summer. Despite this, his consistency levels might prove an issue should Chelsea end up signing the Frenchman.

In a recent interview withfootball.london, Spanish football expert Sid Lowe said: “He is a bizarre player. He can go from infuriating to awful, sometimes in exactly the same move, but it’s not always just about injuries.

“I think the improvement in the structure [at Barcelona] has helped him play better. In a way, the forcing of certain options of him because he’s a player who has sometimes taken bad decisions on the pitch in terms of choosing the wrong pass and so on.”