Joan Laporta has reportedly put Ousmane Dembele’s Barcelona future in doubt, suggesting he has not heard back from the 24-year-old French attacker’s camp.
In an interview with Spanish publication Mundo Deportivo, Joan Laporta spoke about the increasingly uncertain and unsettling situation of Ousmane Dembele. The Barcelona president has left the French international’s future up in the air, suggesting he has not heard that the contract rebel wants to stay put at Camp Nou.
Ousmane Dembele has been a polarising figure at Barcelona since arriving from Borussia Dortmund in August 2017. While he has shown plenty of promising signs in the last half a decade, a spate of injuries has blighted his progress considerably.
To make matters worse for himself, Dembele is at loggerheads with Barcelona over the terms of a new contract, with his current deal running out in a few months. The 2018 FIFA World Cup winner is reportedly asking for a hefty €20 million pay package to commit his long-term future to Barcelona, who could deem the wage demands excessive.
But Dembele has been superb on the pitch despite the uncertainties surrounding his Barcelona future, chipping in with one goal and seven assists in his last six La Liga outings. But with the player’s situation becoming increasingly unsettling, Joan Laporta has commented on the state of contract renewal talks.
The Barcelona president said, “At the present time, on our part, we have not heard that [Dembele] wants to stay on. I don’t know if his agent has been in touch but I don’t think so, because I would know, and we are focused first and foremost on this final stage of La Liga to try and win it.”
“At the end of the season I suppose there may be some sort of talks but inside the salary limits we are setting. I do not like to talk about hypotheticals. [If Dembele decides to open talks] we are open people and we like Dembele a lot, I have said it from the start and I have often made it very clear how much we appreciate him.”
Laporta also spoke about Dembele’s healthy relationship with several Barcelona players, adding, “Also, now he is getting on really well with Aubameyang and [Samuel] Umtiti, there is a good atmosphere and he looks happy after every game. He gets on great with Auba and that is fantastic.”
This is the second time this month that Laporta has commented on Dembele’s situation. The Barcelona president previously asserted that the 24-year-old knows the club’s offer. But his latest quotes point towards Dembele’s Barcelona future becoming more uncertain than it was already.
