Barcelona have behaved like classless bullies with Dembele
Robin Bairner
- Updated: 23 May 2023 08:55 CDT
- 3 min read
Barcelona have resigned themselves to the departure of club-record signing Ousmane Dembele and are making a last-ditch attempt to sell him before the end of the January transfer window.
While Barca have managed to negotiate the worst of their financial crisis in an apparently impressive manner thanks to the clever accounting of Mateu Alemany, the sporting director of the club, it has not stopped the Primera Division outfit unnecessarily making a sideshow of Dembele’s contract negotiations.
Barcelona have been classless throughout the talks, unbefitting of a club of their stature, having wholly mismanaged the situation.
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Dembele, after all, has a contract that Barcelona signed with him when he joined in 2017 from Borussia Dortmund for an initial €105 million, plus another €40m in bonuses. That it was agreed by the previous administration should not be prejudiced against him. By all accounts, he has done nothing wrong during negotiations.
Instead, Barcelona have acted like a spoiled child when he has turned down their offer.
While they are free to offer Dembele what they now feel he is worth – he would earn less than he did in 2017 – his agents are equally at liberty to put forward their own demands, no matter how outlandish they may seem.
Dembele, after all, has a point. It seemed a deal would be done before Barcelona changed their priorities and signed Ferran Torres for a massive fee on substantial wages. By brokering such a deal, Barcelona were tacitly indicating that their priorities lay elsewhere.
Worse, Dembele was publicly earmarked by Xavi as a reason why Ferran could not be immediately registered, unfairly placing the club's financial woes on the attacker.
Furthermore, by continuing to chase Juventus forward Alvaro Morata, they only strengthened that impression.
If no accord could be reached, the two parties simply should have left it at that.
Instead, Barcelona resorted to puerile public threats. First, it was indicated that Dembele was not going to be used on the field before it escalated to a warning of court action.
It is not the first time this season that Barca have threatened to get heavy handed with one of their own players for failing to tow the party line. Samuel Umtiti was subject to similar reports before he ultimately signed a new deal at lower wages.
Barcelona have carried themselves with the attitude of a school bully in this case, and Dembele should be applauded for standing up to them. They have not behaved like the great institution they are, but the banter club they are threatening to become.
