After all the talks and rumours about Ousmane Dembele, who was being linked with N no. of clubs, the Frenchman has finally decided to stay at Barcelona.
According to reports, Ousmane Dembele and Barcelona have reached an agreement, and he will sign a two-year contract at Camp Nou with a lower wage.
The two parties were unable to agree on an extension, thus France international’s contract with the Catalan giants terminated at the end of June. The World Cup winner’s future has been the subject of extensive conjecture, with Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain both rumoured to be interested in signing him.
However, it is claimed that Dembele has always preferred to remain at Barcelona, and an agreement between the two parties is reportedly close. The new contract, according to Romano, will continue until June 2024 and will be on a lower wage because of Barcelona’s financial difficulties.
Moreover, according to the Italian journalist, the attacker is said to have “approved all stipulations.”
According to the journalist, Xavi has been working hard to hold onto the former Rennes prospect. And a declaration of the new contract may be made before the end of the week.
Dembele supposedly wanted to quadruple the €6 million (£5.2 million) salary that Barcelona had offered. But he has since conceded that won’t be possible given the team’s financial difficulties.
Barcelona Club President comments on contract situation of Ousmane Dembele
Joan Laporta, the president of the Catalan club, recently declared that the organisation will not set a timeline for determining the attacker’s future.
“He is a person that we appreciate very much,”
Mundo Deportivo quotes Laporta as saying.
“He has played at a very high level in the second half of the season and the coach is very satisfied with him.
“It is an economic question, he has answered us without saying ‘yes’ or a ‘no’. We maintain a good relationship with the player and there is communication with the agents. If he accepts the conditions that we have presented, he will continue, if not, then no.”
“We don’t set deadlines for anything, not for signings, not for levers or anything. Now that we’ve activated the first lever, we’ve released quite a bit of pressure. We are working hard, both for players and levers.”
The 25-year-old was initially instructed to leave Barcelona in January after declining to sign a new contract, but he finally stayed at the organisation and was able to earn his way back into the starting lineup in the second part of the season.
Despite some injury issues, Dembele had a good 2021–22 season, making 32 appearances across all competitions and contributing 13 assists and two goals.
Since joining Barcelona from Borussia Dortmund in August 2017, he has made 149 appearances and amassed 32 goals and 34 assists.
In addition to Chelsea and PSG, Dembele is thought to have drawn interest from Manchester United, Bayern Munich, and Liverpool during the past 12 months.
In the summer transfer window, Xavi’s team is also negotiating high-value contracts with Robert Lewandowski of Bayern Munich and Raphinha of Leeds United as the team looks to compete for major honours following a trying 2021–22 campaign.
