Barcelona president Joan Laporta has reaffirmed that if Ousmane Dembele wants to renew his contract he and his agent will have to accept the club’s salary limits.
The World Cup winner’s contract with the Catalan giants expires at the end of June and there is no signs of the standoff between Dembele’s representatives and the club reaching a resolution.
Despite being greeted with a chorus of boos from the Nou Camp faithful after contract talks broke down, Barcelona boss Xavi has stuck by Barcelona’s number seven and he is being repaid with some influential performances.
During the international break Laporta has provided an update on Dembele’s future and although the club is sticking to their guns, he hasn’t ruled out the former Borussia Dortmund man putting pen to paper on a new deal.
Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has shared what Barcelona president Laporta has said on the 24-year-old in an interview with RAC1.
Laporta said: “I really like Dembele, he’s amazing –we made him a proposal [which] expired on December, then if he wants to stay, he has to accept our salary limits.
“We never know what happens with Dembele and his agent.”
Newcastle monitoring Ousmane Dembele situation
Despite being in electric form and staying injury free, Barcelona who are already in a financially precarious position are not willing to break the bank to keep the pacey winger at the club.
His two assists in the recent 4-0 El Clasico win against Real Madrid meant that Dembele has registered more assists than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues (7 assists in 7 games).
With Dembele in fine form and his contract running down, Europe’s top clubs are likely to be circling when he becomes a free agent.
According to AS, Dembele has agreed to join Paris Saint-Germain, despite interest from Tottenham and Newcastle
Newcastle have been linked with a move for Dembele since the takeover went through in October. Goal claimed the club had been in contact with the star’s agent.
Unlike Barcelona, the Magpies can break the bank for mercurial Frenchman and he would be quite the statement signing from PIF.
Newcastle like many other sides will be keenly watching how the Dembele situation unfolds in the coming months.
Laporta and Barcelona will be hoping Ousmane Dembele who was signed for £135.5m has a change of heart and accepts the offer on the table, but as it stands that looks increasingly unlikely and he looks set to become one of the most lucrative free agents on the planet in three months time.