Why forward Ousmane Dembele is a 'special case' at Barcelona
Arsenal and Man Utd want the winger who has 18 months to run on his contract
Ousmane Dembele's future is still in the air. And not because he's not performed at Barcelona or because Barcelona have an excess of attackers following the injury to Ansu Fati -- but because his contractual situation is a cannon waiting to go off.
Dembele has a year and a half on his deal, he has offers to leave permanently, but he won't agree to leave now or to extend his contract. Given that situation, Barça could force a move because they don't want to lose for nothing a player they signed for over 100 million euros.
Ronald Koeman hasn't shown a lot of confidence in Dembele since he took over. The Dutch coach doesn't like the disorder he brings to the pitch.
No one at the club doubts he's a rough diamond with exceptional quality, but he's not shown it enough at Camp Nou.
The Blaugrana have been in contact with Dembele and his people to talk about the offers on the table. Manchester United pressed a lot in the summer transfer window but the Frenchman refused to go in the end.
It was Dembele who brought an end to the move to Old Trafford during a hectic finale to the window. Since then, Barça have tried to open talks over extending his deal by another year, but nothing has advanced on that front.
The player's tactic could be to buy time before leaving for free in June 2022. What Barça are clear on now, though, is that they need Dembele more than ever with Ansu out for four months, even if they are still prepared to listen to offers.
His contractual situation is ideal for selling, once he's shown he's fully recovered from a string of muscle injuries. United and Arsenal are interested but we will have to see if they have the money to do the deal and if Dembele is prepared to go.
