Laporta: “Xavi loves you, but the club does too. We all wanted it to be achieved in the end”
BARCELONA, 14 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The FC Barcelona player Ousmane Dembélé assured after signing a new contract as a Blaugrana until 2024, after ending his previous relationship on June 30 without reaching a renewal agreement, that the process has been “very long” until he can be, now , all “happy”.
“I’m very happy about the renewal. Barcelona has been my club since I was little, the one of my dreams, and I’m very happy. I’m looking forward to the start of the pre-season so I can give everything to FC Barcelona”, acknowledged the Frenchman.
But he explained, in his own way, how was the series of his non-renewal and being without a team these fourteen days. “Staying at Barça was always my first option, I told the president and the coach. Now, I know it’s been a long time, but now everyone is happy and I want the season to start to give everything for the team and by the Barça”, was sincere.
A few words, those of a Dembélé who had not had public acts or press appearances for too long, confirming what Xavi had been assuring the media. The Frenchman’s priority was to continue at Barça, although he managed it after becoming a free agent for a few days because his agents did not accept previous renewal offers.
Now, Blaugrana again, he acknowledged that he is in a better moment than when he arrived in 2017. “In the team, the ‘staff’ and the club there are many people who helped me a lot. My first three years were difficult, with many injuries, now My situation is different and I have the trust of everyone, my teammates and the coach and my president,” he said.
And he is ambitious as ever. “I want to win titles. Barça always has to be there to win titles, Leagues and ‘Champions’. As I say, I’m going to give everything for my teammates and for the club to try to win this title”, he repeated.
On a personal level, he hopes to put the injuries behind him and, despite direct competition such as the arrival of Raphinha, to bring out the best Dembélé. “I hope we see the best Dembélé, I’m going to work hard and give everything on the pitch and in the gym, for the coach, and I hope it’s my best year at Barça,” he added.
For his part, Joan Laporta assured the Frenchman that everyone wanted him to continue despite the fact that, when the negotiations were worse, the director of football, Mateu Alemany, regretted not receiving a response from the agents and considered the player lost. “For me it is a very emotional day because the coach loves you, but the club also. We all wanted it to be achieved in the end,” Laporta said on Thursday.
“I have admiration for the quality of Ousmane as a player and as a person. It is an important day for Barça, Dembélé continues and I want to thank him for always wanting to stay. He has made an effort to fit into Barça’s new salary structure, we have resized by the circumstances, and I want to thank you,” the president thanked him.
“We are very happy, Ousmane has an extraordinary talent, he can go where he wants to go. He has an incomparable talent, he is a very ‘sui generis’ talent, specific, that brings us a lot. Xavi loved him from the first moment, and he is a coach who knows how to bring out all the talent he has inside”, he added in this regard.
In addition, Laporta believes that the 25-year-old winger can give “even” more because he has “innate qualities.” “This year is important, we have to win titles and fight for them, I appreciate this spirit of winning. With daily work, we will achieve it”, predicted the Blaugrana president.