La Liga heavyweights Barcelona are reportedly planning to sit down with in-form 25-year-old forward Ousmane Dembele to discuss a new contract.
According to reputed Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano, Barcelona will look to tie Ousmane Dembele to a new long-term contract. The 25-year-old will see his current deal expire in June 2024, but the Catalan giants are planning talks to discuss a new contract with him.
Ousmane Dembele has turned his career around brilliantly since Xavi Hernandez replaced Ronald Koeman at the helm at Spotify Camp Nou. This time last year, the French international was dealing with fitness issues while his future was up in the air. As January arrived, Mateu Alemany revealed that Dembele would not sign a new contract.
The 25-year-old subsequently became the pantomime villain for Barcelona fans, who greeted him with jeers in a game in February. But Xavi Hernandez stuck by Dembele and urged the supporters to get behind Dembele instead of booing. The Frenchman eventually had a change of heart and signed a new contract with Barcelona.
But with Dembele only signing a two-year contract, Barcelona will need to initiate discussions over a new deal. Come January, the 2018 FIFA World Cup winner will have only 18 months left on his contract. And recent reports have claimed that Barcelona might even contemplate selling him next year.
But Fabrizio Romano has revealed that the Catalan giants want to sit down with the player to discuss the terms of a new contract. Barcelona’s stance is hardly surprising, considering the 25-year-old has been one of the most in-form players for them this season.
Dembele has a solid tally of five goals and seven assists in 20 appearances thus far this season. And alongside Robert Lewandowski, the French forward is the only attacker starting prominently for Barcelona. So Barcelona will understandably be desperate to secure the player’s long-term future.
Joan Laporta recently revealed that Dembele is happy at Barcelona, saying, “Ousmane is happy and motivated. There will be time to talk about renewals.” And it will be interesting to see if the Blaugrana can tie the in-form 25-year-old forward to a new contract in the coming months once he returns from the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
