In the hands of Dembélé

With the agreement with Manchester City closed to incorporate Ferran Torres to the Barcelona squad, the next test that Barcelona has to solve is to register the striker in compliance with the financial Fair Play regulations imposed by LaLiga. The clearest option is to renew Ousmane Dembélé is down to release the salary mass, but for now, with 48 hours before the Frenchman is free to negotiate with any team, the situation is stagnant. To further complicate the situation, the Blaugrana club confirmed on Wednesday that the Frenchman is positive for COVID.

The contract that Josep Maria Bartomeu signed for Dembélé in his day was, like so many others that were made, ascending. That means that in this last season the French player’s salary exceeds 20 million gross, which is unaffordable for the Catalan entity., who has proposed a new deal that cuts his income in half. If Dembélé accepted the proposal, he would release a salary mass to register Ferran Torres, who has adjusted his salary to the maximum to be able to play for the Blaugrana.

The talks between the club and the French forward started in good harmony, but in the final stretch of the negotiation they have frozen. Barça is in the hands of the Frenchman and his agent knows it and believes that If there is money to pay City, there must also be money to increase the offer for Ousmane.

The Frenchman also plays with the threat of the offers of the Premier that he supposedly has in which his salary is improved offered by Barça to which is added the fact that on June 30 he could leave for free, with the corresponding transfer bonus.

From the Catalan club praise for Dembélé has not been spared. Laporta has come to declare that the Blaugrana is still “better than Mbappé” and Xavi in ​​his presentation stated that the player “could become the best in the world in his position due to his aptitudes.”

At 24 years old and after four seasons at Barça, Dembélé continues to be a player who lives off the expectations of his undeniable talent. Injuries have affected his performance, but it is also clear that he has not performed at the level he is supposed to be. a player who is the second most expensive signing in the history of the Barcelona club, who paid 105 million plus 40 in variables to Borussia Dortmund.

Barça has ended up in a labyrinth that, if an offer for Umtiti or Coutinho does not appear (who together with the French occupy the podium of the highest salaries in the dressing room) depends on Ousmane. A guy as unpredictable on the field as he is outside of it as evidenced by the fact that he married by surprise taking advantage of the Christmas break and returned to training testing positive for COVID.

The club, which in its day was firm that it needed a response to the renewal offer before the day after tomorrow knows that now, especially after the hiring of Torres, it is the French who once again have the upper hand.