Xavi: Dembele won’t be frozen out at Barcelona
Carlo Garganese
- Updated: 16 Feb 2022 21:02 GMT
- 3 min read
Barcelona manager Xavi has once again stressed that he won’t penalise Ousmane Dembele for refusing to leave the club and will continue to use him between now and the end of the season.
Dembele’s contract at Camp Nou expires at the end of June and he rejected all offers of a renewal.
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Barcelona had been very keen for the winger to renew, with president Joan Laporta and Xavi persistently praising Dembele in recent months and urging him to pen a new deal.
However, negotiations suddenly ground to a halt at the turn of the year as Dembele became unhappy that Barcelona were offering him a contract at much-reduced wages while at the same time signing Ferran Torres from Man City for €55 million plus €10m in add-ons.
Barcelona, meanwhile, complained privately and publicly that Dembele was asking for too much money, with reports that he demanded €240m in order to sign a new contract at Barcelona.
The relationship between Dembele and the key figures at Barcelona deteriorated badly from then on, with Barcelona doing everything to pressure him into either signing a new contract or leaving in January.
There were even reports that Barcelona were prepared to freeze Dembele out of the squad for the rest of the season if he didn’t leave, or even take him to court.
In the end, Dembele stayed put and he played his first game for the club since the blood really turned bad as he came on for the last 18 minutes of Barcelona’s 2-2 draw with Espanyol on Sunday.
Ahead of the Europa League match against Napoli, Xavi was again asked if Dembele will be used more between now and the end of the season – and whether he was more likely to feature in away matches.
What did Xavi say about Dembele?
"It won't depend so much on whether we are playing at home or away, it will depend more on training and the players who can play in his place,” Xavi said.
“I'm sure he'll help us, he already did it in the 20 minutes against Espanyol. He's one more player and he'll play when we need him.
"Dembélé will be an important player until the end of the season, I’m sure.”
Barcelona host Napoli at Camp Nou on Thursday.
