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Barcelona president Joan Laporta has offered an update on French forward Ousmane Dembele’s future at the club, with the attacker’s current deal due to expire in 2024.
Dembele penned a two-year extension in the summer after seeing his previous deal expire after months of negotiations failed to yield an agreement. The attacker eventually penned a new short-term deal but Barca will surely want to avoid a repeat situation.
Laporta has been asked about Dembele and seemed pretty relaxed about the situation regarding the 25-year-old. There has been speculation that a new contract for the forward is one of the club’s priorities but Laporta disagrees, as reported by Catalunya Radio.
“We have Ousmane happy and motivated, there will be time to talk about the renewal,” he said. “We are always waiting for the contractual situations, but at the moment it is not what concerns us the most.”
Xavi has given Dembele his full backing since taking over and the forward has managed to shrug off his injury problems and feature regularly. Dembele has scored five goals and contribute seven assists in 20 matches this season.
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Dembele’s Buyout Clause To Change
Barcelona may want to secure Dembele’s future sooner rather than later, as the buyout clause in his existing deal is set to drop, according to Marca. The clause is currently set at €100 million but will halve to just €50m in June and July of 2023.
Such a low fee may well attract clubs, particularly if Dembele impresses during the World Cup with France. The forward is part of the squad for the tournament in Qatar along with Barcelona team-mate Jules Kounde.
Barcelona signed Dembele in August 2017 for a fee of €105m (£97m), plus a potential €42m (£38m) in add-ons. The forward has struggled to live up to his lofty price tag during his time at Barcelona but has looked far more settled at the club since Xavi took charge.
Laporta Talks Messi Return
Laporta also spoke once again about the possibility of club legend Lionel Messi returning to the club once his contract with Paris Saint-Germain expires at the end of the current campaign.
The Barcelona president says he’s often asked about Messi but knows it will not be easy to bring him back to the Camp Nou
“They asked me about Lewandowski, Pedri and Gavi, but, above all, about Messi. They told me that I had to get Leo back to Barça, and I answered them that Messi is from Barça,” he explained. “Wherever you go, everyone identifies Messi with Barça, I like it too. On the subject of his return, it is complicated. He is at PSG and I would not like to get into controversies with this club.”
Messi is currently preparing for the World Cup with Argentina. The competition is set to be Messi’s last chance of winning the tournament before he hangs up his boots and he’s not expected to make any decision on his future until after the competition.
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