Barcelona forward Dembele tests negative for coronavirus and aims to make Champions League return

Ousmane Dembele has tested negative for Covid-19 and is now targeting a return to action to coincide with the possible return of the Champions League in August.

The Frenchman had been the only Barca player not to undergo a coronavirus test ahead of the first-team squad’s return to training, given the circumstances around his hamstring injury that had initially appeared to bring an end to his hopes of playing again in the 2019-20 season.

However Goal can confirm that, with Dembele now having taken a coronavirus test on Monday, the result has come back negative and that he is buoyed by the prospect of potentially being able to play again in the current campaign.

Indeed, Dembele underwent surgery back in February, with the prognosis being that he would miss the next six months and would therefore be looking at next season for a potential return date.

Although with the coronavirus pandemic having brought a halt to football across the globe, Goal can confirm that the former Dortmund forward is determined to make his comeback in the Champions League, should the competition be given the green light to resume in August.

Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has already claimed that Europe’s premier club competition would be returning later in the summer, with him announcing that his side’s tie against Juventus would be played on August 7.

The Ligue 1 side would later deny that was the case although it does give Dembele a possible date to work towards, with Barca yet to face Napoli in the second leg of their last-16 tie.

He will, however, be unable to play any further part in domestic competition, with Barca having decided to remove the France international from their La Liga squad registration list, replacing him with emergency February signing Martin Braithwaite.

The opposite is true in the Champions League, meanwhile, with former Leganes striker Braithwaite unable to feature in that competition, while Dembele would be able to play if he is able to recover from his injury in time.

It is unclear what the long-term future holds for Dembele, with Premier League clubs having been linked with a move for the 22-year-old who has struggled to make a big impact in Spain owing to various injury and off-field issues.

Like Philippe Coutinho, Dembele is one that the Camp Nou giants would be open to offers for, although there is an acceptance that his asking price will be considerably lower than the initial €105m (£93m/$113m) they paid to sign him back in 2017.