Barcelona approach player ‘to do everything possible’ to convince Ousmane Dembele over contract extension: Reports
Barcelona have approached Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to convince Ousmane Dembele to sign a contract extension, reports El Nacional.
The Gabonese, who joined from Arsenal, was the winger's team-mate during their time at Borussia Dortmund and hence shares a close bond with him. The Catalans are looking to use this relationship to get the Frenchman to sign a new deal before his current term expires in June.
Dembele has never had a close friend at the club, so having someone like Aubameyang, whom he knows well, could help them.
Ousmane Dembele told the entire Barcelona bench to move down so he could sit next to Aubameyang 💺 https://t.co/SKX1C6Vvwt
The report also claims that they've explained to the latter everything about the situation and asked him to do everything possible to convince him.
The 24-year-old was asked to leave Barcelona in January after they failed to reach an agreement over his new contract. However, with no significant offers coming his way, the former Rennes forward ended up staying at the Camp Nou.
With Xavi also losing patience with him and echoing their ultimatum, Dembele's participation for the remainder of the campaign was in major doubt. However, the manager has now changed his stance, playing him off the bench in their 2-2 draw with Espanyol last weekend.
#FCB
Barça manager Xavi protecting Ousmane Dembélé: “He’s a player of the squad. He's going to help the team and he'll play for sure. It's a closed topic”. 🔵🔴 #FCB
“I wanted to give Ousmane minutes against Atlético, but circumstances didn't make it happen”. https://t.co/WoqcXk0ACE
The Spaniard further added that despite all the simmering tensions between the player and the club, he will be treated like one of their own for now. He said:
"We don't rule out whether he can play at home or away. Whether he plays or not depends only on how the players are trained and who is better or worse. He can play."
Xavi added:
"He already did it in front of Espanyol and he helped us a lot for 20 minutes because he overflowed on the sidelines, he faced and had very good minutes. He did what we asked him to do, which is to face the end. Let's focus on the bottom line. He did well. He'll help us until the end of the season because he's a great player. to compete and win."
Barcelona should let Dembele go
Since his staggering €105 million transfer from Dortmund in 2017, Dembele has been riddled with injuries, preventing him from nailing a place in their XI. He has made 130 appearances for Barcelona, scoring 31 goals and making 23 assists.
While he's widely deemed an expensive flop, his hefty wages have further burnt a hole in Barcelona's pockets.
Given his poor fitness record, the Catalans would be wise to let him leave in the summer to save them from more financial losses.