New Dembele contract 'a priority' for Barcelona

FT Desk

• 25 Nov 2022 08:51 CST
• 3 min read

Ousmane Dembele has enjoyed a stunning turnaround under Xavi at Barcelona and now the club want to ensure his loyalty with a bumper new contract.

Dembele joined Barca from Borussia Dortmund in an eye-watering €145 million transfer in the summer of 2017, when the nascent winger was still just 20.

Reports of turning up late for training having played video games deep into the night followed Dembele around in his early seasons at Barca, and he hasn't been helped by injury during his five-year stay at Camp Nou.

READ: Xavi's 'dream' front three at Barcelona revealed

Dembele's Barca career looked to be heading for the end last summer. The club were working hard to pull away from the €1.35 billion debt which saw them lose Lionel Messi on a free to Paris Saint-Germain and Dembele's contract was allowed to wind down.

He had talks with PSG and Chelsea over the summer, but ultimately returned to Barca a matter of weeks later, although taking a 40 per cent hit on his wages.

But Dembele was beginning to find form after Xavi succeeded Ronald Koeman as manager last November, and he has made good on that promise with five goals and seven assists in the first half of this season.

READ: Barcelona's banter era: 2017 until… today?

Contract negotiations

"Barcelona plan to meet again with Ousmane Dembele's agent to negotiate a new contract extension, which would imply a salary increase," report Spanish transfer outlet Fichajes.

"Given his performances, it remains to be seen if he decides to sit down and negotiate or tempt the transfer market again as he did last summer."

Dembele is currently rated at €41.6m by Football Transfers' in-house algorithm and any potential suitor would need to at least match that if they tried to acquire the winger before its expiry in June 2024.

Dembele is currently on international duty with France at the World Cup in Qatar, where he started the first game, assisting Kylian Mbappe for the third goal in a 4-1 win over Australia.