Pep Segura on Coutinho, Dembele: 'We hope they will wear a Barca shirt'

Posted Thursday, August 17, 2017 by ESPN

Pep Segura on Coutinho, Dembele: 'We hope they will wear a Barca shirt'
Philippe Coutinho has handed in a transfer request at Liverpool.

Barcelona are close to completing deals for Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele, the club's general manager, Pep Segura, confirmed after Wednesday's 2-0 Super Cup loss to Real Madrid.

Liverpool's Coutinho has been the subject of two bids from the Catalan club, the most recent worth €100 million turned down last week.

However, Coutinho responded by handing in a transfer request and Mundo Deportivo have reported that the Brazil international has told the Premier League side he will not play for them again.

Dembele, meanwhile, is currently serving an internal suspension at Borussia Dortmund after skipping training last week in a bid to force through a move to Camp Nou.

In a statement to the stock market on Thursday, Dortmund confirmed they had rejected Barca's bid for the French international, thought to be in the region of €100m, also.

"We know that we have to strengthen the team and that's what we will continue to do in the coming days," Segura told TV3.

"We have to help the team. We're close [to Coutinho and Dembele], we're talking about the conditions but until everything is finalised, we can't say anything else. We hope they will wear a Barca shirt."

The arrival of both players would see Barca's summer spending rise above the €300m mark, following the signings of Marlon Santos, Gerard Deulofeu, Nelson Semedo and Paulinho.

The Super Cup loss to Madrid -- 5-1 on aggregate -- has served to further expose the need for the Blaugrana to add to their squad after Sergio Busquets had called for attacking signings earlier this week following the transfer of Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain for €222m.

"It's clear signings are needed," Busquets told a news conference. "We have to strengthen the squad. We need attacking players to compensate for Neymar.

"But every position can be strengthened and the more quality players that come in the better. I hope the best players arrive and that they generate competition and give the coach decisions to make."