Keeping Ousmane Dembele a total priority at Barca
Ousmane Dembélé has become the absolute priority for Barça's sporting management between now and June 30. The Blaugrana club's sporting department will try to secure his continuity before then to avoid the risk of an escape that could complicate the planning for next season immensely. The French winger wants to stay on, but his buy-out clause is only 50 million euros after that and that is conditioning many of Barça's market movements at the moment. It is hoped that an agreement can be reached imminently.
Barça and Dembélé's entourage already held a first meeting a little over a month ago in which the two parties showed their total predisposition to try to reach an agreement to extend the contract that expires in 2024. At that time they began to talk about figures, with a first proposal, but they have not made the necessary progress. The club understands that the time has come to reach a total agreement to avoid a tense next few weeks and to close the uncertainty created by the Frenchman's exit clause.
It is true that Ousmane has always expressed his desire to continue at Barça. He feels comfortable in Barcelona and also in the team. His relationship with Xavi Hernandez is special and now he feels important in the dressing room. In fact, his starting place is absolutely undisputed and the coach has always made it clear that he is the most important player in the team. Barça does not want him to leave and the player is convinced that he wants to continue, which is why the club is going to try to ensure that all this is already reflected in a new contract.
Barça are going to invest heavily in Dembélé by making an economic effort in this renewal. The idea now is to try to agree a long-term contract with an improvement in both salary and objectives, so the Frenchman will become practically the highest paid player in the squad. The club had planned to make this move this week, but it has been postponed for a few days, although the club have made it clear that things will happen with this negotiation very soon because they can't wait any longer.
The uncertainty created by Dembélé's exit clause is causing a paralysis in the planning of some negotiations. Barça have Ansu Fati and Ferrán Torres on the exit ramp, but nothing has been formalised yet as they are waiting to tie down Dembélé. If there is an unwanted departure of the Frenchman before July 14, Barça would not be able to lose another winger and it would also be very difficult for them to find a guaranteed replacement in the market with the little room for manoeuvre due to the salary cap.
Barça are confident that the player is totally willing to continue, but they are also clear that Dembélé is a real market opportunity for clubs with financial and sporting potential in Europe. His price could attract some teams in a summer in which there will be a lot of money to be made in European football. There are no players of Dembélé's quality who can leave at that price and, for that reason, Barça want to make a clean break with this contract anomaly. Sealing a deal would be a great statement and would kill any chance of the player leaving the club.
For now, sources at Barca assure that there is no news of any offer for Dembélé. Barça do not have him on the market because he is considered a strategically important player, but they cannot control everything. The club's aim is to close this case in the next few days and they hope to do so with an agreement. If that is not possible, the player could leave for that lowly termination clause, which would leave the club in a complicated situation.
