Barcelona Transfer News: Ousmane Dembele Interest Confirmed by Samuel Umtiti

Barcelona are interested in Borussia Dortmund's Ousmane Dembele, according to France team-mate and Barca defender Samuel Umtiti. 

Speaking to L'Equipe, Umtiti noted the winger would thrive at the Camp Nou and even jokingly offered to put him up (h/t Sport):

"We get on really well. I know Barca are interested in his profile, but all the parties need to reach an agreement. 

"Dembele would do well with us, with the quality he has, he's capable of adding a lot. If he comes, he will be welcome, but it still needs to be official to talk about that. If he comes, he can sleep at my house!"

Umtiti also clarified he had not discussed the potential transfer to Barcelona with Dembele.

The youngster only turned 20 in May, but he had a stellar first season in Dortmund and racked up 10 goals, including one in the DFB-Pokal final, and a stunning 21 assists in all competitions.

Dembele has struck up a particularly effective partnership with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, per ESPN FC's Stefan Buczko:

"

800th assist of Dembele for Aubameyang

— Stefan Buczko (@StefanBuczko) April 26, 2017"

He also showed his versatility, spending significant time on both wings as well as at No. 10.

The pacy Frenchman is a talented dribbler, per WhoScored.com:

He has already improved significantly during his short time with BVB, most notably his decision-making—it's an increasingly rare sight to witness him turning down a blind alley and conceding possession rather than offload the ball to a team-mate.

Former Dortmund boss Thomas Tuchel also managed him carefully to prevent burnout or spells out with injury, per Bleacher Report's Lars Pollmann:

Upon his arrival at Dortmund last summer, he told the club's in-house TV channel (h/t Bundesliga.com) that Aubameyang and Tuchel played a big role in his decision to join them.

However, Tuchel has now been sacked, and Aubameyang is hoping to leave this summer, per Bild (h/t the MailOnline's Andy Warren).

With the pair perhaps both gone Dembele could potentially be open to moving on from Dortmund despite spending just one season there.

He already looks to have the ability to play for a top European side and the potential to get even better, so he could make an excellent capture even for Barcelona.

Dembele likely wouldn't start as many games as the 37 he did with Dortmund this year, but he'd likely still see plenty of minutes given Barca's tendency to compete on multiple fronts.