Laporta hints that Dembele won't play for Barcelona ever again

Barcelona president Joan Laporta has hinted that Ousmane Dembele will not play for the club again after appearing to choose to run his contract down.

Dembele's terms are up in the summer and he's rejected the chance to renew and also turned down chances to move elsewhere in January.

"We offered him a new deal, it was a good offer, he even said it was a good offer," Laporta said in a press conference on Tuesday, explaining the situation after the transfer window closed.

"But, in the end, he wanted a bigger offer. We told him, per our criteria, that we thought the offer was good enough.

"His agent [Moussa Sissoko] has remained silent. We did all we could [to help him leave]. We proposed two offers to leave for six months which we thought were very good. We're surprised he didn't accept them, especially the last one from an English club.

"But he preferred to stay. It makes no sense and isn't good for him or the club. He's still in the squad but [coach] Xavi [Hernandez] must also have the future in mind and if Dembele is not going to be here...

"We believe he has an agreement with another club [for the summer], that's what his agent has insinuated."

Laporta's comments appear to confirm Dembele won't feature for Barça again, although he didn't say as much explicitly, leaving the final decision in coach Xavi Hernandez's hands.

Paris Saint-Germain and several Premier League clubs were linked with Dembele last month after Barça told him to find a new home.