After the Ousmane Dembele saga found no optimal conclusion during the January transfer window, the French forward was back in Xavi‘s matchday squad to face Atletico Madrid, yet his name was met with whistles from the home fans at the Camp Nou.
Fans had been told during the window that should Dembele not sign a contract extension with the Catalan club then he wouldn’t play for them again. But, a buyer wasn’t found and he is still there, with Xavi stating that he plans to bring him back into the fold.
During the warm-up prior to kick off on Sunday, Dembele was introduced over the PA system which was running through all of Barcelona‘s squad, at which point the fans already in the ground whistled his name.
What is the current situation with Dembele?
Dembele rejected several offers to leave the club near the transfer deadline, instead electing to run his contract with the Spanish giants down until June.
Xavi selected Dembele to the squad on Sunday, but he wasn’t brought into the match and he wasn’t even sent to warm up by the former Al-Sadd coach.
Later, the coach pleaded with fans not to whistle Dembele for the remainder of the campaign.
“I ask the Camp Nou, please, stop whistling Dembele,” Xavi implored in his post-match press conference.
