"He is one of the best in the world by far"- Jordi Alba hopes Barcelona renew his club teammate's contract

Barcelona left-back Jordi Alba on Ousmane Dembele

Barcelona left-back Jordi Alba believes the club should offer a contract renewal to his teammate Ousmane Dembele.

Dembele arrived at the La Liga giants in the summer of 2017 from Borussia Dortmund. The French winger's contract runs out this summer, and he is likely to leave as a free agent.

Speaking to El Larguero de la SER (via Mundo Deportivo), Alba said about Dembele:

"Renew Dembele? I think they should. In his position, he is one of the best in the world by far. He is motivated, and I don't know what he is going to do, but I hope he stays."

Alba also spoke about Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland, two players who have been linked with a move to Spain in the summer. Mbappe has been highly linked with a move to Real Madrid, as per Marca. Meanwhile, Haaland has been linked with both the Blaugrana and Los Blancos, as per Marca (via Eurosport).

Speaking about the duo, Alba said:

"Mbappe is crazy, and he showed himself in the tie against Madrid. Haaland is also young and has a goal. But it is not the same to play in Dortmund and in PSG than at the Camp Nou or the Bernabéu. We would have to see what they do here."

Barcelona have also had to deal with financial issues in terms of wage structure and registering players. Speaking about the same, the left-back added:

"You have to be in the good times and the bad. Not everything is going to be rosy; we are in a delicate situation."

Ousmane Dembele to continue resurgence at Barcelona?

Ousmane Dembele was signed by the Blaugrana in 2017 for a massive fee of €105 million + add ons.

However, his Barcelona career has been plagued by injuries that have seen him play just 139 games across competitions, bagging 32 goals and 30 assists.

👀 Ousmane Dembele has nine assists in 12 league matches under Xavi, as many as he managed in his last 65 league outings under Ronald Koeman and Ernesto Valverde combined. Reborn! #ElClasico https://t.co/qIHUxH1of5

He was offered a contract renewal at lower wages this season, but the winger declined. The club then asked him to leave in the January transfer window, according to Sky Sports. However, a deal faild to materialise, and he ended up staying at the Camp Nou.

Since then, he has seen a bit of resurgence under manager Xavi Hernandez. The Frenchman has made nine assists and scored two goals in 12 games. He has made seven assists in 2022, the most in Europe's top five leagues.

Ousmane Dembele since Xavi was appointed:

⏱ 1144 minutes played
💨 44 successful dribbles
🪄 37 chances created
🇫🇷 11 goal involvements
🅰️ 9 assists
⚽️ 2 goals scored

A goal contribution every 104 minutes, form is temporary...👀⚡️ https://t.co/MspCDzpM4J

Needless to say, if he can keep up this form till the end of the season, the Blaugrana might look to offer Dembele an improved deal.