Dembele 'laughs at' Barcelona's ultimatum
Martin Macdonald
- Updated: 5 Jan 2022 04:04 CST
- 3 min read
Ousmane Dembele will not be pressured into making a quick decision on his Barcelona future despite being given an ultimatum by the club.
The forward's contract at Camp Nou expires in June and as of 1 January, he became able to talk to other clubs about a move as a free agent in six months.
Barcelona, who are in a dire state financially, may opt to try and sell Dembele in January, however, in order to claim some kind of significant transfer fee.
Unfortunately for Barcelona, they are running a massive risk of losing a player they paid €105m for leaving for free.
He is yet to put pen to paper on a new deal, with agent Moussa Sissoko allegedly campaigning for his client to leave, and with the latest round of negotiations having broken down, a departure seems inevitable.
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Barca do want Dembele to stay, but have now put themselves into a corner as they need to quickly sort out their finances in order to register new signing Ferran Torres.
At the presentation of the former Man City player, Barca director Mateu Alemany was asked about Dembele's situation, and he replied:
"There are contacts. They have been with the soccer player for five months. He knows the position of the club, we want him to stay and he knows it
"He has a renewal offer. It cannot be delayed much longer, he knows all the scenarios and we are waiting for a definitive answer for his part."
Spanish outlet Sport has revealed that Dembele and his entourage have effectively "laughed" at the ultimatum set by Barcelona.
The intention of Dembele and his agent is to patiently wait and see which club presents the best option for the player.
Dembele delaying Torres registration
Barcelona head coach Xavi has explained that the Blaugrana can’t afford to register Torres and that if Dembele takes a pay cut it would allow their new signing to start playing.
“Torres is coming off an important injury, he has fantastic commitment, he's going to give us a lot, I've no doubt about it. He can play in different positions, I'm very happy with the effort made by the club to get him,” Xavi said.
“We'll see how the salary cap situation is, if it's possible right away.
“There has to be players leaving. If we get Dembele to re-sign his contract and lower his pay it will allow us to sign Torres and we hope that it can happen.”
Barcelona must lower their wage bill in order to register Torres to make sure new La Liga regulations are met.
