Moussa Dembélé not for sale, Sylvinho tells Manchester United
Moussa Dembélé will not be joining Manchester United, so long as Olympique Lyon head coach Sylvinho has a say in the matter.
Olympique Lyon boss Sylvinho has shut the door on a potential move for rumoured Manchester United target Moussa Dembélé. United are reportedly interested in signing the forward as a replacement for Romelu Lukaku, who looks to be edging closer to Serie A.
Dembélé scored 15 goals in Ligue 1 last season and did nothing to deter suitors by striking twice in Lyon's 2-1 pre-season win over Arsenal on Sunday. The probability of an approach from United is likely to diminish if the Premier League club send striker Lukaku to Juventus and gain Paulo Dybala in return.
Dembéle? No chance
Regardless of movements elsewhere, Sylvinho is adamant his starting centre-forward will not be sold. The Brazilian told L'Ëquipe: "Dembélé won't move. The window is closed! Okay?"
Lyon have already lost one key attacker during the close season, captain Nabil Fekir having moved to Real Betis, and they could be tempted to dip back into the transfer market.
"It's a possibility," Sylvinho said. "We could also recruit another defender. We'll see. It's not an easy thing to replace Nabil, an important player with extraordinary technical quality. We need to see whether someone can really help. It's a matter of opportunity."