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Ousmane Dembele told to leave Barcelona immediately after winger turns down new contract

Winger Ousmane Dembele has turned down Barcelona's offer of a new contract as it was on reduced terms

football Ousmane Dembele told to leave Barcelona immediately after winger turns down new contract
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Barcelona, First Published Jan 20, 2022, 4:34 PM IST

Barcelona has informed Ousmane Dembele to leave the club immediately as he will be sold before January 31. This move from the Spanish giants came after the winger refused to sign a new contract at Camp Nou on reduced terms.

The 24-year-old Frenchman is out of contract this summer, meaning the Xavi Hernandez-led side faces the prospect of losing Dembele on a free transfer if he sees out the season in Catalonia. However, Barca, which is fighting financial troubles, is unwilling to let that happen and remove Dembele's wages from their account books.

Addressing the media ahead of Barcelona's Copa del Rey clash against Athletic Club, Barcelona director Alemany said, "With Ousmane Dembele and his agents, we started conversations around July. In all this time we have talked, Barcelona has made different offers. We have tried to find a way for the player to continue with us. But those offers have been continuously rejected by his agents."

Claiming that it now seems evident that Dembele does not want to continue with the Catalan club, Alemany also questioned the winger's commitment to Barca's future project. "We told him and his agents that he must leave the club immediately because we want to have players committed to the project. We expect a transfer to take place before January 31. The sporting consequence is that we don't want to have players who don't want to be at Barca," Alemany said.

The Barca director added that Dembele is not Barcelona's squad for today's game against Athletic Club due to the whole process. "The coach has our full support; it's a consistent attitude," Alemany concluded.

Dembele, who has spent four-and-a-half seasons at Camp Nou, joined Barcelona from Borussia Dortmund for 145 million euros but has struggled with injuries in Spain for most of his time. The 2018 World Cup winner has been linked with Newcastle, and the club will now actively look to move him this month to try and recoup a transfer fee. The winger has started in just six matches for Barcelona this season, and his only goal came in the Copa del Rey victory at third-tier Linares earlier this month.

Also read: 'Decision Soon': Erling Haaland states after accusing Borussia Dortmund for pressing for decision over future

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