FC Barcelona Set To Withdraw Dembele Contract Renewal Offer

FC Barcelona are considering withdrawing their contract renewal offer for Ousmane Dembele.

The 2017, €105mn ($110mn) signing from Borussia Dortmund becomes a free agent on June 30 with reports linking him to a move away from Catalonia to the likes of Chelsea, Paris Saint Germain or Bayern Munich.

Some outlets have said that first team head coach Xavi Hernandez has pushed the Barca board to make a special effort with the Frenchman and get him to sign on the dotted line with under a week left until his current five-year deal expires.

On Friday, however, Mundo Deportivo claimed that this wasn’t the case, and that while Xavi gave up hope on his charge agreeing fresh terms some time ago, it is now Dembele that has had a change of heart and wants to stay after all.

With Barca in debts of around $1.5bn, it has been said numerous times by the likes of president Joan Laporta and director of football Mateu Alemany that the offer made to Dembele and his camp is final and will not be revised or improved.

Given Dembele’s alleged switch in attitude, it is now thought that Dembele will accept the original proposal.

Yet a report from the same paper on Saturday says that some important figures at the club are in favor of withdrawing it altogether.

Rather than allowing what was seen with Lionel Messi last summer, when his arrangement was allowed to run out as the club labored to offer a fresh deal ahead of La Liga roadblocks pushing the Argentine towards PSG, they want to see this done after June 30.

Furthermore, some higher-ups think that Dembele’s corner – led by agent Moussa Sissoko – are bluffing, and that there are no offers on the table from outfits such as Bayern Munich or Manchester United, who aren’t willing to pay exorbitant signing-on fees and bonuses that Sissoko has also tried to get from Barca.

It is added by MD that Dembele recently spoke to Xavi and told him that he would either take the club’s offer or wouldn’t continue at Camp Nou, which is what seems to be the state of play as things stand.