Ousmane Dembele wants to extend his contract with Barcelona, Fabrizio Romano reports. The 24-year-old attacker reportedly received a lucrative proposal from Newcastle United in recent weeks, but prefers a longer stay in Catalonia. Barcelona is confident it can give white smoke over the contract extension in the coming days.
For a long time it seemed as if Dembélé would leave on a free transfer at los Azulgrana. The Frenchman’s contract expires in mid-2022 and Sport recently spoke of a ‘lost cause’ regarding his stay on. Dembélé would like to make a big leap in financial terms and therefore be open to offers from other top clubs. The wing attacker has now indicated that he wants to sign his agent until 2024, according to Foot Mercato.
Newcastle approached Ousmane Dembélé and his agents weeks ago to make a proposal – but the feeling is still optimistic for his contract extension with Barcelona. ?? #FCB #NUFCBarça are confident to reach the final agreement in the next days, and Xavi is pushing to keep Ousmane.
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) Dec 23, 2021
The confidence of trainer Xavi would have played an important role in Dembele’s decision. According to Romano, the coach has pushed his pupil, who has invariably been able to count on a starting spot since his recovery from a lingering hamstring injury, to stay. Xavi was already clear about his assessment of Dembele when he was appointed: “In my eyes he can become the best player in the world in his position.”
Dembele has long been plagued by injuries since his arrival from Borussia Dortmund in 2017. Partly because of this, the 27-time international has so far only made 125 appearances for the club, in which he scored 30 times and provided 22 assists. This season the counter stands at four games, in which Dembélé was not yet able to find the net.
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