Barcelona proposed swap deal between contract rebel and PSG forward on Janaury deadline day

The January transfer window was an eventful one for Barcelona. The club signed as many as four players in Dani Alves, Ferran Torres, Adama Traore and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Apart from the incomings, Barça also tried to offload a few of their player, most prominently Ousmane Dembele. The French winger had rejected a contract proposal from the club and with his deal expiring in the summer, the Catalans were eager to offload him in January and make some cash from the sale.

There had been plenty of rumours surrounding Dembele’s potential exit in January with widespread reports claiming that the likes of Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea, Arsenal all made a play to secure his services, along with Paris Saint-Germain.

Reputed journalist and transfer expert, Fabrizio Romano, has come up with an update on what happened with the Barça speedster on the transfer deadline day.

Speaking on the latest episode of his Here We Go Podcast, the Italian journo has revealed that Barcelona, in an attempt to sell Dembele, proposed a swap deal to PSG that would have seen Mauro Icardi end up at Camp Nou on the January deadline day.

The Blaugrana were in the market for a new centre-forward in January and their pursuit of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had hit some roadblocks. So, it should not come as a surprise that the club were assessing other options as well, with Icardi seemingly on the radars.

Romano claims that the Catalan giants wished to trade Dembele for the Argentine international on the deadline day, but neither player was interested in swapping clubs.

Icardi was not convinced about leaving PSG midway through the season even though his game-time has taken a hit this season while Dembele never even considered the possibility of departing from Barcelona.

As a result, a deal never went through, with both players staying put at their respective clubs. Since then, Dembele has turned things around with his performances on the pitch, leading to rumblings of a possible contract renewal late in the day.

Whether it materialises or not remains to be seen. As for Barcelona’s pursuit of Icardi, the ex-Inter Milan captain could have been a decent signing, but Aubameyang is already proving his worth five goals in his last three matches.