He stays in the team, he doesn't stay in the team; he stays in the team, he doesn't stay in the team; he stays in the team, he doesn't stay in the team... And so it goes, not just manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba, or Paris Saint-Germain superstar Kylian Kylian Mbappe, but also dembele, the most expensive player in Barcelona history. Coincidentally, all three are French players.
Indeed, Barca have waited too long for Dembele. He came to Camp Nou in the summer of 2017 with a record transfer fee of €140 million and has not been able to play a worthy performance for four and a half seasons. With 129 appearances, 31 goals and 24 assists so far, the statistics alone seem to be not bad, often missed at key moments, and often injured.
This season, Messi left, which was originally the time for him to take on big responsibilities, but missed most of the season due to injury, and only returned at the end of November, so far in 20 la Liga rounds, only 6 appearances. His contract with Barca expired in June this year, and he repeatedly expressed his hope to stay in the team, and he delayed the renewal of his contract, and coach Xavi finally couldn't bear it and issued an ultimatum to him.
At the press conference for Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish Cup, Xavi complained about Dembele, "The situation for Dembele is complicated, if he doesn't renew his contract, we need to find a solution", adding, "We are making a difficult decision." If he doesn't renew his contract, the club will need to act."
"We've been waiting for a long time, negotiating with him for 5 months, and he's renewing his contract in real time, or we'll send him away." Xavi made it clear that everything was for the sake of the Barca club, "He told me I wanted to stay in the team, it was his problem. My position has always been clear: He stays in the team, or we let him leave."
He declared: "We can no longer wait for Dembele and must immediately decide whether to renew his contract or his departure." Harvey said, "I wouldn't put him in the stands, he said he wanted to stay in the team and then he didn't sign. The message was clear, Dembele had to sign a new contract, or we sold him away in January, and there was no other way."
If Xavi's claims seem to have taken a turn for the better, Barca sporting director Mateu Alemany added that the door has been closed to Dembele forever, "It is clear that Dembele does not want to remain in Barcelona. He didn't want to be part of our plan."
"We have told Dembele that he must leave immediately. We expect him to be sold by January 31." The new golden boy who came on the seven-colored cloud on that day finally lost camp Nou.
Dembele fell out with Barcelona in part because his agent and Barca were in a big fight when they renewed their contracts, reportedly demanding an annual salary of 30 million euros (equivalent to a weekly salary of nearly 580,000 euros), plus a signing fee of 45 million euros. As we all know, Barca are in serious financial difficulties, so poor that even the ace star Messi has been forced to endure the pain of letting go, Dembele's request is no different from refusing to renew his contract.
The 24-year-old French winger has no shortage of suitors, according to the news, Barca to sell him to Manchester United and Newcastle for 20 million euros for jumping, Spain's "Sport" pointed out that Chelsea and Juventus are interested in him, it is reported that Dembele tends to choose Premier League teams.