During the presentation of Luuk de Jong as Barcelona’s latest signing, club president Joan Laporta took the time to discuss, among many other topics, the future of Ousmane Dembele. The Frenchman, currently out injured, has been handed the number seven shirt at Camp Nou and will be expected to help lead the line upon his return to first team action.
“Mateu [Alemany] told me that a meeting with his representative is being organised,” Laporta said in comments carried by Diario Sport. “The relationship with Ousmane is very good, he feels loved and we want him to continue.
“He’s told me that he really wants to return to the pitch and wear the Barcelona shirt. With the help of everyone we’re going to ensure that this player, who has great quality, gets back playing and playing often, ensure that the bad moments don’t happen again. The club has a plan to make sure that Ousmane can show his talent and his quality.”
Dembele was poised to play a key role for the French national team at Euro 2020 – after earning a recall through his good form for Barcelona last season – only for injury to curtail his involvement. He contributed six goals and three assists under Ronald Koeman last season in 30 La Liga appearances.
Barcelona face a difficult season. They lost Lionel Messi as well as Antoine Griezmann this summer, and are now heavily reliant on their younger guns to step up to the plate and help the club compete in La Liga and the Champions League. They opened the season with a 4-2 defeat of Real Sociedad before drawing 1-1 with Athletic Bilbao in the Basque Country and recording a narrow 2-1 win over Getafe. Bayern Munich are up next.