Barcelona to blame for Dembele's contract situation says agent
Cameron Smith
- 18 Jan 2022 20:58 GMT
- 3 min read
The agent of Barcelona winger Ousmane Dembele has blamed the club for the fact his client's contract hasn't yet been renewed.
The Frenchman's current deal is set to expire at the end of this season, and despite plenty of negotiations, no agreement has been made as of yet.
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Spanish outlet Sport believe that a final meeting between the club and Dembele's representatives with take place this week, but according to Dembele's agent, a deal would've been wrapped up if it were up to him.
What has been said?
"They’re putting the pressure on, but it doesn’t work with people like us. Maybe it works with agents who are close to Barcelona. That’s not the case with me, I’m here to defend my player’s interests," he told RMC Sport.
"We’re not here to react to debates on social media, but the truth has to be said. Yes, we have high demands, but we’ve shown in the past that Ousmane’s career choices are not dictated by money, else he wouldn’t be here.
"Then, if Barcelona wanted to negotiate, they could have come to the table with us to talk. Except there are no discussions and there are threats coming from them that he won’t play. That’s not allowed. We will exercise Ousmane Dembélé’s rights if necessary.
"We don’t know what we’re going to do, nothing is decided. But the management are losing Ousmane by themselves. From the start, we’ve shown that we wanted to negotiate, with terms, but without closing the door."
Dembele joined Barcelona for €105 million from Borussia Dortmund in 2017, but has been plagued by injury problems since moving from Germany to Spain.
He's failed to play over 2,000 league minutes in every single season since signing for Barcelona, with a total of 14 separate problems keeping him on the sidelines over the past four-and-a-half years.
Reports have suggested that several clubs around Europe, including Liverpool, are interested in Dembele, who will be a free agent in six months time.
