Transfer Rumors: Barcelona to Announce Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele “This Week?”

Barcelona could announce the captures of Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele later this week, according to Spanish and Catalan sources.

Of course, we’ve heard rumors that their signings were imminent before, but now, we’re getting towards the end of the transfer window so it’s either soon or not at all.

Let’s break it down.

First, Dembele. The player is suspended by his club, Borussia Dortmund, as he is currently rebelling to force a move. Reportedly, BVB have set a deadline for the 26th of August for Barcelona to make the right offer.

Meanwhile, Coutinho has missed the games to start Liverpool’s season with a back injury, though of course rumors suggest that the absence is related to the possible transfer.

Diario SPORT says both players will be joining in the next coming days as Barça will spend over 100 million euro on each. SPORT explicitly says both “will” be joining, not “could be.” Of course, they could be overconfident.

Meanwhile, Helena Condis on Cadena COPE said that "Barcelona could make the signing of Coutinho official this week." Note that she says “could”, not “will.” In any case... no word from her about Dembele.

To sum up, it’s very possible Barça could announce either of them or both of them this week. But we all know this talk of “imminent” signings have turned out to be about not-so -imminent deals before.