Ousmane Dembele's summer move to Barcelona rated at '50-50' by Borussia Dortmund CEO

Borussia Dortmund chief-executive Hans-Joachim Watzke has blasted Barcelona and questioned their integrity amid ongoing negotiations for the transfer of Ousmane Dembele from the Westfalenstadion to the Camp Nou this summer.

Barcelona have made it clear that he is their primary target to replace Neymar, who joined Paris Saint-Germain in a world-record €222m (£198m) deal earlier in the month, and have held talks with the Bundesliga club with regards to a move.

Dortmund confirmed rejecting the Catalan club's initial offer but reports later suggested that the two clubs had agreed on a base fee of €100m. Barcelona, however, were not willing to pay the €30m in performance based add-ons the German club are demanding.

The Bundesliga outfit's CEO Watzke has now made it clear that they will not budge from their valuation of the player and Barcelona will have to meet their demands for the transfer to go through, which he now rates at '50-50'.

The Dortmund chief also questioned the Spanish giants' integrity in their approach to the transfer in the wake of Dembele trying to force a move by skipping training following a meeting between the two clubs. He has since been fined and suspended by Dortmund and the player is said to be angry with the club for breaking a promise made to him when they signed him from Rennes last summer.

"Dembele is Barcelona's first choice," Watkze said, as quoted by the Daily Mail. "They have neither a plan B nor C because they know how good he is."

"We met on a Thursday with Barca, and on Friday he didn't show up for training,' the Dortmund CEO said referring to Dembele's absence from training. "A coincidence? Two weeks ago, I considered Barca to be a big and respectable club, but I'm not so sure anymore."

"We told him we'd allow him (to leave), but not after only a year. We're not budging on what we've asked for, not a penny. We can't accept €30m less than what we've asked for. Right now, his transfer is 50-50," he added.

According to unconfirmed reports from French outlet Ger French Football News, Dembele is expected to travel to Spain in the coming days to complete a move to Barcelona with both clubs said to have agreed a total fee of €120m including add-ons.