Ousmane Dembele makes U-turn on his future as he looks ‘set to commit to Barcelona’ despite Chelsea and PSG interest… as agents reveal plans to renew his contract after meeting with Xavi
- Ousmane Dembele’s agents have revealed his intentions to remain at Barcelona
- The 24-year-old is out of contract in the summer and was told he could leave
- The Frenchman has been linked with high-profile clubs such as PSG and Chelsea
- Dembele released a statement accusing Barca of trying to blackmail him
Ousmane Dembele is set to commit his future to Barcelona, despite weeks of turbulent speculation surrounding his future.
The Frenchman’s agents Moussa Sissoko and Marco Lichsteiner met with Barca coach Xavi Hernández to reveal his desire to remain with the Catalan giants, according to Sport.es.
In the meeting, Sissoko and Lichsteiner were keen to make it known that Dembele is fully committed to the Barca project and is proud to be a Barcelona player after recently being frozen out of the squad due to his uncertain future.
Ousmane Dembele is set to commit his future to Barcelona despite weeks of speculation
There has been plenty of tension between the two parties, but it reached a new low recently when the 24-year-old publicly released a statement accusing them of trying to blackmail him into signing a new contract.
Dembele released the statement after Barcelona’s director of football Mateu Alemany said the player should leave the club ‘as soon as possible’ following a breakdown in contract talks.
Dembele reportedly demanded a ‘crazy’ salary package worth up to €80million (£66.9m).
Barcelona, however, are currently trying to secure new deals for stars on reduced terms initially with more money coming in the back-end of the contract, allowing them to free up funds to sign players at the moment.
Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez sat down with Dembele’s agents to discuss his future
The Frenchman was reportedly in discussions with Premier League side Chelsea this week
Dembele has just six months left on his current deal, but has revealed his intentions to remain at the LaLiga club – despite reportedly entering negotiations with Premier League side Chelsea earlier this week.
Dembele’s agent, Moussa Sissoko, also appeared to inadvertently show he was receiving a call from Paris-Saint Germain sporting director Leonardo after arriving in Barcelona.
Sissoko was filmed by Spanish television cameras leaving the airport with his phone in his hand but a closer look shows the screen lighting up with someone calling him.
And El Chringuito TV zoomed in on his phone to see the words ‘Leonardo PSG’ on the screen.
Ousmane Dembele’s agent has appeared to inadvertently show he was receiving a call from Paris Saint-Germain sporting director Leonardo
Dembele’s phone was spotted by cameras with ‘Leonardo PSG’ clearly on the screen
The speculation should now come to a close with just a matter of days left to go in the transfer window, although Dembele is yet to put pen to paper on a new deal.
Dembele originally joined Barcelona in 2017 from German side Borussia Dortmund for £96million.
Since making the move to Spain, the Frenchman has struggled to maintain fitness and live up to the hefty price-tag.
He has only played six times in LaLiga this term and three times in the Champions League, failing to score in either competition.
