Barcelona Transfer News: Ousmane Dembele Makes Early Return Amid Arsenal Rumours

Barcelona's Ousmane Dembele has made an early return to preseason training amid rumours linking the France international with a move to Premier League side Arsenal.

Dembele is anxious to earn a place in Barca's starting XI after the recent arrival of Malcom from Bordeaux, according to Mundo Deportivo (h/t Metro). To that end, he has ended a post-World Cup holiday prematurely to join his Barca team-mates.

Dembele, who represented Les Bleus during their victorious campaign at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, "was not asked to report back to training until after the Supercopa de Espana against Sevilla on Sunday August 12," according to Metro.

Dembele's early return comes after links to the Gunners grew stronger when he was pictured at the home of Arsenal striker and former Borussia Dortmund teammate Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

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The latter shared a snap of the dinner meeting, which also included Gunners stars Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Alexandre Lacazette and Matteo Guendouzi, on Instagram (h/t Goal's Chris Burton).

Catalan radio station RAC1 (h/t Jack Otway of the Daily Express) then reported Dembele joining Arsenal could help the Blaugrana sign Paul Pogba from Manchester United.

Links between Dembele and the Gunners make some sense given how well he and Aubameyang played together for Dortmund. The pair forged a prolific partnership in the Bundesliga, with Dembele often the provider to Aubameyang during the 2016/17 campaign:

Despite the obvious rapport with Arsenal's leading striker, there have been signs Dembele will be staying at the Camp Nou. Not only has he resumed training as quickly as possible, but Dembele also recently received a vote of confidence from his manager in July.

Ernesto Valverde talked up the 21-year-old's importance, per Sky Sports: "Let's hope it's his season. He is an extraordinary player. The past year has been complicated because of the injuries, but even so he has brought us a lot."

Struggles to stay fit marred much of Dembele's debut season in Spain. He was restricted to a mere 14 starts in all competitions, although he did still manage to chip in with four goals and six assists.

Those numbers show why Barca would be wise to keep Dembele in the fold, even after spending £36.5 million to sign Malcom. The pair will improve Valverde's already enviable options up top.

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Both Dembele and Malcom can create chances for Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez. Their pace and trickery from the flanks adds yet another problem for defences to deal with.

Dembele is still young and talented enough to become the star Barcelona were hoping for after paying an initial €105 million to Dortmund in 2017. It would be a mistake to let the one-time Stade Rennais ace move on too soon.