Borussia Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc rejected reports claiming Ousmane Dembele has agreed personal terms with Barcelona.

Dembele has been strongly linked with Barca, who are seeking a replacement for Neymar following the Brazil international’s world-record €222-million move to Paris Saint-Germain.

But Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke insisted it will take more than €100m to tempt his side into allowing the 20-year-old to leave Signal Iduna Park.

And Zorc insists there is nothing in a report from France that claimed forward Dembele has reached a long-term agreement over personal terms with Barca.

‘I am not aware of a commitment,’ he told reporters after Dortmund beat Rot-Weiss Erfurt 5-2 in a pre-season friendly.

Zorc does not expect the Dembele speculation to end any time soon, but is unwilling to provide a running commentary.

‘This will surely accompany us for a while,’ he said. ‘It makes no sense to comment on these permanent rumours every time.’

Dembele said last week it was a ‘pleasure’ to be linked with Barca and expressed his surprise at Neymar’s decision to leave for PSG.

The France international only joined Dortmund in 2016 in a move from Rennes, impressing enough in his debut campaign in Germany to be named in the Bundesliga Team of the Season, as well as winning the man-of-the match award in the club’s DFB-Pokal final victory.

– This story originally appeared on FourFourTwo.co.za