Countdown begins for decision on Dembele's Barcelona future

In 15 days, Ousmane Dembele will be free to sign with another club. Until now, Barcelona have not received any response to their last contract offer made to the French forward. He has no intention of giving up a euro, be that signing or renewal or moving clubs, and the soap opera continues.

Barça have started to assume that he won't extend his stay at Camp Nou. They're ready, despite the desire to make him an important part of the team, to sell him in January if he doesn't renew. That won't happen, though, because neither the player nor his agent want to give up the signing on bonus they would receive if they moved on a free transfer.

At the moment, Dembele does not want to be linked to anything or anyone and will continue to shuffle the options on the table in search of getting the highest premium. An imminent decision seems difficult to believe as the interested parties begin to think more and more about the possibility of signing him on a free.

Premier League

Four teams are best placed to move for Dembele and two are from the Premier League. Manchester United, Chelsea, Juventus and Bayern Munich, although the latter rarely get sucked into a bidding war. The Premier League has the best chance of landing Dembele, although Juve have been working on making him their new star for a while.

Xavi confident

Despite the lack of commitment from the player so far, Barça coach Xavi is still confident he will stay. He said as much on Friday, assuring that he's spoken with him and he wants to stay and feels happy at Barça: "He was clear with me, I am positive he will renew."

Xavi continued: "It's about reaching an agreement between his agent and the club. He knows the project and the importance he will have, so I am positive.

"He is playing well, maybe lacking a goal, but he set up the second other day and he's creating chances. He is someone who can make a difference, who gets into the area... we are positive."