Barça believe Dembele is close to joining Paris Saint-Germain
The winger is out of contract in the summer and hasn't re-opened talks with Barça
It's been almost two months since the January transfer window close and Ousmane Dembele's future is no closer to being resolved at Barcelona.
The club, upon the insistence of Xavi Hernandez, have allowed the Frenchman to return to the pitch for the final six months of his contract and are now waiting for a gesture from him or his camp.
Dembele continues to tell his teammates that he wants to stay but his agent has not taken any steps to re-open talks with Barça regarding a new deal.
It's true the player is happy in Barcelona and enjoying his role in the team, but business is business and it seems he's unlikely to stay. Barça won't make the first move.
Out of pride and because they are convinced that if they take the initiative, Dembele's agent will ask for another huge salary and a signing bonus close to 20 million euros.
The club don't have that kind of money nor are they ready to go back into that negotiation loop. If Dembele wants something, he knows where the offices are and that he must restart the negotiations.
No one is certain but there's a belief at Barça that he has a deal in place with Paris Saint-Germain. PSG didn't make a move in January because they didn't want to spend money on a player who can join for free in the summer.
In the final days of the transfer window, Dembele turned down the chance to hold talks with Tottenham and Chelsea.
Barça believe that was the reason for PSG's silence in January. Manchester United or Juventus didn't move either, but internally they know that the player's camp has been in contact with PSG.
Kylian Mbappe will leave and they need to boost their attack. Haaland is unlikely to be an option because he doesn't want to play in France and Dembele's seen as a good replacement for Angel Di Maria.
