Barcelona are growing increasingly wary over Ousmane Dembele’s contract situation as he enters the final year of his deal.
That’s according to Sport, who say the club ‘do not trust’ the player and his agent as negotiations continue to stall, likening the situation to an ‘irritating fly.’
Dembele is out of contract next summer, and Barcelona are keen to get him signed to a new one this year; otherwise, he will be free to negotiate a free transfer from January.
That would be a huge blow, and so if talks are not successful this summer, they will likely be forced into a sale to ensure they make money on a player who cost them £121.5m in 2017.
This finally took place via telephone, and despite there being no physical meeting, the Catalan giants believe it is a ‘positive’ that they have been able to ‘exchange views’ on the contract situation.
They believe the meeting was ‘useful’ for Barça to explain their position and start the negotiation process that could lead to a renewal.
Their intention is to get the contract signed before the end of the European Championship because, at that point, he would be in the final year of his current deal.
However, Barcelona are still wary of being stung and ‘do not trust the good intentions’ of the Frenchman or his agent.
If there are ‘no good feelings’ in the near future, Dembele will immediately put on the transfer market.
They’ve already put a price on his head so they can enter the market and listen to offers that may arrive in such circumstances.
