As reported by SER Catalunya this Monday in its program What do you play, Moussa Sissoko, representative of Ousmane Dembélé, insists that, whether or not he accepts the renewal offer, Dembélé will continue at Barça until June and will not accept pressure from the Barça club, not even the stands, although Xavi is not in favor of this pressure measure.
Always according to SER Catalunya, Dembélé has closed his move to a Premier League club for next June, but he does not intend to advance his departure to England by six months, no matter how much Barça tries to find that solution to get rid of his record and thus be able to sign. Dembélé and his agent consider that they have “the upper hand” and that, since the club was not able to close his renewal before, now they are free to decide their future, in a timely manner. And that Dembélé’s intention is to continue as a Barça player until June.
In this game of pressure, it will be necessary to see the position of Barça. Mateu Alemany assured that there would be no more offers to Dembélé and that, if he did not renew, the club had “clear measures”. When the director of football made that announcement, nobody could interpret that a measure would be to make the footballer play normally until June, but that would clash with the coach’s interests. We will have to see how the story of this soap opera is resolved. Several options are still open: that there is a final agreement and Dembélé renews freeing salary space (an option that is not possible today), that Barça send the footballer to the stands if he does not play (it would disavow Xavi) or that he cover his nose and, accepting that the footballer is going to leave, keep him as one of the squad. The discarded option is that Dembélé leaves in January as Barça intends.