Barcelona director of football Mateu Alemany said Ousmane Dembele must
leave before the end of January after the French international made it clear he
does not want to stay at the club.
Dembele, who joined from Borussia
Dortmund in 2017 in a deal worth 140 million euros ($158.9 million), will be
able to leave for free when his contract expires in the summer.
Barca
has been desperate to avoid that happening and with debts of over a billion
euros, could at least pocket a fee for the 24-year-old if he is sold in the
current transfer window.
“With Ousmane and his agent we began
conversations around July so it’s been six months and a bit,” Alemany said on
Thursday.
“We’ve talked, we’ve talked, we’ve talked. Barca has made
different offers.
“We’ve tried to find a way for the player to
continue with us but these offers have been systematically rejected by his
agents and today, January 20, eleven days before the last period of his contract
ends, it seems obvious to us that the player does not want to continue at
Barcelona and he is not committed to Barca’s future project.
“In this
scenario, he and his agents have been informed that he must leave immediately
because we want players committed to this project and therefore we hope that a
transfer will take place before January 31.”
Dembele has been left
out of Xavi Hernandez’s squad to face Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey last
16 on Thursday night.
“The sporting consequence of all this, as
agreed by our coach, is that we do not want to have players who are not
committed to the project and who do not want to be at Barca,” Alemany said.
“The
club is obviously not the one that should decide this, it is the coach, and he
has decided it.
“But he has all our support and we understand it
perfectly. It seems to us absolutely the correct approach.”
Xavi said
on Wednesday “we cannot wait any longer” and that “either the player renews or
we look for an exit for the player, there is no other possibility.”
He
also said he is “not contemplating” leaving Dembele sitting in the stands until
the summer.
“It’s a shame. He has played every possible minute since
I have been coach,” said Xavi.
Dembele has suffered numerous injuries
in recent years and has largely been a huge disappointment at Camp Nou.
Yet
after losing several key players to reduce the club’s debts, Barca has been
keen to keep Dembele, who despite his many setbacks remains one of their most
talented players.