Ousmane Dembele has become the world's most coveted 18-year-old soccer player with interest coming from Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City, but his mother will likely make the decision.
“She is who will decide Ousmane’s future,” admits Dembele's agent Badou Sambagué. “When he wanted to leave last summer, his mother told him she wanted him to stay at Rennes and sign his first professional contract. In the end he had no choice.”
Dembele has scored 10 goals this season for Rennes, making him the youngest player to reach that mark in Ligue 1.
Arsenal, Chelsea, City and Tottenham are among his suitors in the Premier League but reports in France on Monday claimed that Bayern have already secured a deal under which Dembele would be loaned back to Rennes next season.
The bidding will likely start around £25 million.
“It’s very important for him to only think about playing football. My job is to protect him from all the speculation,” said Sambagué. “I’ve known Ousmane since he was born – I lived on the first floor of our immeuble and his family was on the second. I went to school with his brother and sister so we know each other very well. I was the model for a lot of the young footballers in the area because I had played international football for Mali. My example was to play football and then study so I became a lawyer after retiring. That’s when Ousmane said, ‘Badou I want you to give me a target for the future’.”