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Barcelona president Joan Laporta has offered an update on Ousmane Dembele’s current situation at the Camp Nou following the close of the January transfer window.
Laporta says Barcelona made a “good” contract extension offer that was rejected and claims Dembele also received strong offers from other clubs that were also turned down, as reported by ESPN.
“We offered him a new deal, it was a good offer, he even said it was a good offer. But, in the end, he wanted a bigger offer. We told him, per our criteria, that we thought the offer was good enough,” he said. “His agent has remained silent. We did all we could [to help him leave]. We proposed two offers to leave for six months which we thought were very good. We are surprised he did not accept them, especially the last one from an English club.”
Laporta also went on to say he thinks Dembele already has an agreement with another club for the summer when he is out of contract and able to leave Barcelona as a free agent.
“He preferred to stay. It makes no sense and is not good for him or the club. He is still in the squad but Xavi must also have the future in mind and if Dembele is not going to be here,” he said. “We believe he has an agreement with another club [for the summer], that is what his agent has insinuated.”
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What Now For Dembele at Barcelona?
Dembele was told to leave the club by sporting director Mateu Alemany but failed to find a new home and now faces the prospect of potentially spending the rest of the season in the stands.
The forward has been left out of Barcelona’s squad for the last two matchdays, but it remains to be seen if Xavi will continue to ostracize the 24-year-old for the rest of the 2021-22 campaign.
Coach Xavi is set to discuss the situation with Laporta and Alemany, as reported by Javier Miguel at Diario AS. The Barcelona coach “is not in favor” of keeping Dembele in the stands and feels it would be “wasting a talent that may be necessary for the challenges that the team still has this season.”
However, it’s not clear if the club’s chiefs will agree and Barca have already shown a willingness to takea a tough stance with players who have refused contract extensions. Ilaix Moriba was frozen out last season before eventually being offloaded to RB Leipzig.
Laporta Offers Aubameyang Update
Laporta also offered an update on striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who is set to join Barcelona after securing a late deadline-day move from Premier League side Arsenal.
Aubameyang was spotted at Barcelona on Monday after undergoing a medical with the Catalan giants. Barca have not yet officially confirmed the transfer, but Laporta says the club are hoping to announce the deal shortly, as reported by Diario Sport.
He said, “We achieved a titanic effort closing the market with the incorporation of Adama and if everything ends well with that of Aubameyang.”
Aubameyang will become the fourth signing of what was a busy January transfer window for Barca. Ferran Torres, Dani Alves, and Adama Traore have also arrived, while Philippe Coutinho, Alex Collado, Yusuf Demir, and Inaki Pena have all sealed exits.
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