Ousmane Dembele is wanted by a host of clubs in Europe, but Barcelona will not break the bank to keep him.
Meetings will be held in the next few hours between his agents and the club to try and agree on a contract extension for the Frenchman.
They have been negotiating for many months and the club are losing patience.
Barcelona‘s directors, who are finding it difficult to reach an agreement with Dembele‘s camp, and also Xavi Hernandez, who is pushing for him to stay, have made it clear that he is not essential. It is he who must compromise.
Some people high up at Barcelona feel that Dembele has no intention to renew and is merely wasting the club’s time. That then delays their pursuit of replacements, such as Leeds United winger Raphinha.
This week there will be a new meeting, although the club are not optimistic about the renewal of his contract because, according to them, if he wanted to stay he would have already made his decision.
Other offers on the table
What’s more, Barcelona are aware that Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich have presented Dembele with offers that are far more lucrative.
Despite all this, Barcelona are awaiting his response and have not yet gone forward with making any offers to sign a replacement for the Frenchman, who insists he has not penned an agreement with any other club.
Dembele, who has told his teammates and Xavi that he wants to continue at Camp Nou, is set to finish his contract on June 30.
The coach, who is asking club president Joan Laporta and the directors to make an effort to keep Dembele, also wanted to send a direct message to the former Borussia Dortmund player, as in the last two games of the season – against Getafe and Villarreal – he left him on the bench.
