Mateu Alemany reveals that Barcelona want Ousmane Dembele to leave the club

Barcelona have put Ousmane Dembele on the transfer market and will sell him in the near future. Xavi has decided against calling him up for Barcelona’s clash with Athletic Club in the Copa del Rey tonight and Mateu Alemany has explained the decision.

Dembele joined Barcelona from Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2017, in part as a replacement for Paris Saint-Germain-bound Neymar. But he hasn’t delivered the form that earned him the move. Injuries have certainly affected his progress at Camp Nou, but so has inconsistency.

In recent times things have taken a tense turn. Dembele’s contract expires at the end of this season and Barcelona have been struggling to convince the 24-year-old Frenchman to renew. Now, it seems that Barcelona have finally given up on their mercurial forward and are prepared to put him on the market, as explained by the club’s sporting director.

“We began conversations with Dembele’s agent in July,” Alemany said in comments carried by Marca. “Six or seven months have already passed since then in which we have talked and Barcelona have made different offers. We have tried to find a way for the player to stay with us.

“Offers have been made that were systematically rejected by his agents. Now, eleven days before entering the final phase of his contract, the club understand that the player doesn’t want to renew and that he’s not committed to Barcelona’s project.

“He and his agents have been told to leave the club and seek a transfer before January 31st. The sporting situation assessed by our coaches is that we don’t want to have a player who isn’t comittee to the project. And not being selected is a consequence of this entire process. It’s not the club that should determine these things, it’s the coach. And he has our full support because it seems to us a totally coherent attitude.”

Tags Barcelona Mateu Alemany Ousmane Dembele
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