The highly sought-after 18-year-old attacking midfielde was on the verge of joining Chelsea. But he may have now changed his mind and ultimately committed Barcelona.
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Africafoot reports that the current prospect of the Jean Marc Guillou Academy in Bamako will join Barça and "the player is expected to arrive in Spain in the coming days to sign his contract with the Catalan club".
Chelsea were prepared to pay 1.5 million euros for Dembélé, who was also on the radar of Red Bull Salzburg (a team associated with the JMG Academy) and Fenerbahçe.
Dembélé stood out at the Under-17 World Cup in Qatar with the Mali Under-17 team: 2 goals and 4 assists in 5 games .