Tottenham Hotspur have made contact with Ousmane Dembele regarding a move to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

What's the talk?

That's according to reports from Spain (via Sport Witness), who claim that Fabio Paratici has made progress in his discussions with the Barcelona forward about a summer switch to Spurs, with the 24-year-old able to agree to a pre-contract in January as a result of his contract expiring at Camp Nou next summer.

The report goes on to state that the likes of Chelsea, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain are all monitoring the situation of the France international, while Barcelona are also reported to be keen for the World Cup winner to extend stay in LaLiga.

However, it is then said that Dembele's agent is well aware that his client is viewed as one of the "big bargains" of next summer, something which gives the winger the upper hand in his contract talks with Xavi's side - which, at present, do not look likely to come to a resolution.

Paratici must seal Dembele deal

While it is true that, since Dembele's £135.5m move to Barcelona back in 2017, the winger has failed to hit the heights of his time at Borussia Dortmund, it is undeniable that the 24-year-old would be a magnificent deal for Paratici to get over the line this winter, particularly on a free transfer.

Indeed, while a series of serious injuries have severely limited the £45m-rated man's game time at Barcelona, he has still scored an impressive 30 goals and registered 21 assists over his 122 appearances for the Spanish giants.

However, should Spurs go on to sign the £287k-per-week forward, Antonio Conte will undoubtedly be hoping the Frenchman can refind the form he displayed over his 32 Bundesliga appearances for Dortmund back in 2016/17, a season in which the versatile winger bagged six goals, provided 12 assists and created a whopping 17 big chances for his teammates.

The player who Lionel Messi dubbed a "phenomenon" also took an average of 1.7 shots and made 2.2 key passes per game that season, metrics which saw the 24-year-old earn an astonishing seasonal SofaScore rating of 7.34 - ranking him as the joint 10th-best performer in the German top flight.

This level of form would appear to lend some weight to Joan Laporta's recent claim that Dembele is "better than Mbappe," and also proves exactly why Paratici simply must simply do all he can to seal a deal for the forward in the coming months.

In other news: Antonio Conte set for huge Spurs boost "in a few days", fans surely buzzing