Dembélé rejects Barça’s offer and will join PSG
The French winger has told Barcelona’ technical team that he isn’t happy with the terms on offer and will not continue at the club.
Barcelona have been proved right in their pessimism over whether Ousmane Dembélé would commit to a new deal or not. Club sources openly said just a few days ago that there was a “95% chance” that the player wouldn’t renew and the latest updates confirm that the French winger will not continue at Camp Nou.
Ousmane told coaching staff that he isn’t going to accept Barcelona’s final offer and is preparing to bring his time at the club to an end when his contract expires on 30 June. The call of PSG and the chance to play alongside Mbappé was too big a temptation for the France international, who has an offer to renew his contract with Barcelona, but his agent feels it ‘s not appetising enough.
So Dembélé has started to pack up and prepare for his departure -the house where he resided in Barcelona has been put up for rent - a clear sign that the player is moving on.
It was clear that Barcelona were never going to accept the counter-offer proposed by Dembélé's agent, Moussa Sissoko - the club had stated that their initial offer and firm and not subject to negotiations. Xavi Hernández had hoped to convince the player to stay but his ideas were opposed by the technical department who felt that Ousmane’s time at the club had reached its natural conclusion. When asked for his opinion on whether the winger should continue, director of football Mateu Alemany refused to comment - an indication of the tense relationship between the player and backroom staff.
Barça unsuccesfully tried to offload Dembélé in the winter transfer window, but the player refused to leave and his agent rebuffed the proposal. In the end he stayed and occasionally played a decisive role in the final part of the campaign.
But neither the arrival of his friend Aubameyang or Xavi’s continual compliments were enough for Dembélé, who has decided to bring his spell at Barcelona to an end. His next destination with with PSG, where he will join up with Mbappé and Messi. Hopefully he will not have as much bad luck with injuries in Paris and will be able to showcase his talent - something which he only managed on fleeting occasions with Barça.