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Barcelona preferred Ousmane Dembele over Kylian Mbappe, says former director

Former Barcelona director Javier Bordas has said that the club could have signed Kylian Mbappe before the striker moved to Paris Saint-Germain but decided to go for Ousmane Dembele instead.

The club brought in Dembele in summer 2017 for €105 million plus add-ons following Neymar’s shock departure to the Ligue 1 side. Bordas has explained Mbappe could have arrived for €100m but technical secretary Robert Fernandez preferred Dembele.

“Yes. When we were to sign Dembélé, Minguella called me to tell us that Mbappé was within reach. I spoke with Bartomeu and he told me to look at him.