Barcelona tell Ousmane Dembele he can leave Camp Nou after contract standoff - Reports
FC Barcelona have informed French winger Ousmane Dembele that can can leave the club "as soon as possible" following a stalemate in contract talks.
The 24-year-old winger has now entered the final six months of his contract and has thus far shown no intentions of wanting to sign an extension. It now seems like the Catalan giants have reached their limits with the player and his representatives.
Mateu Alemany, the club's director of football, has made things clear about Dembele's current situation at the Nou Camp. Speaking to the press ahead of Blaugrana's Copa Del Rey clash with Athletic Bilbao, Alemany said:
"With Ousmane and his agents we started conversations around the month of July. In all this time, almost seven months, we have talked, Barca has made different offers, we have tried to find a way for the player to continue with us and those offers have been systematically rejected by his agents.
"We understand Dembélé's decision is to not continue at Barca and we've communicated our decision [to leave him out]," he added. "We want players that are committed to the club and we have told him he has to leave the club as soon as possible."
Barça-Dembélé, it’s over 🚨
Barcelona director Alemany announces: “It’s clear that Dembélé does NOT want to continue with Barcelona. He doesn’t want to be part of our project”.
“We told Dembélé he has to leave immediately. We expect Ousmane to be sold before Jan 31”. #Dembele https://t.co/0eC61mozCs
The Catalan giants signed Ousmane Dembele from Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund for a fee of around €140 million in the summer of 2017. Since then, the 24-year-old winger has struggled to find consistent game time due to various recurring injuries.
The World Cup-winning winger could be offloaded as early as this month in order to get a transfer fee for their star player. It is worth mentioning that Dembele is currently in a position to sign a pre-contract with any European side. He could also leave on a free transfer at the end of the season.
As things stand, Newcastle United have shown interest in signing the winger as they look to bolster their squad to avoid relegation from the Premier League.
Barcelona, meanwhile, have already signed an adequate replacement for the outgoing Frenchman. The Catalan giants brought in Ferran Torres from Manchester City for a fee of around €55 million.
How has Ousmane Dembele performed for Barcelona?
Ousmane Dembele has not had the best of times in Spain with FC Barcelona. The Frenchman has contributed 31 goals and 23 assists across all competitions in 129 appearances for the club in four-and-a-half seasons.
Ousmane Dembele has been left out of Barcelona's squad for their game vs. Athletic Club 👀 https://t.co/LF5l8sX5Pk
The former Dortmund sensation has, however, won numerous trophies at Barcelona, including two La Liga titles, two Copa del Reys and one Super Cup.