Dembélé says he wants to stay... but won’t renew
Laporta had given up all hope on the French winger after getting no reply to Barca’s offer of a new deal but now the player insists he wants to stay.
The seemingly never-ending Dembélé saga took yet another a new turn this weekend. The French winger’s contract with Barcelona will run out in 12 days’ time on 30 June and last week, club president Joan Laporta admitted that he had given up all hope of the player signing a new deal. “We presented him with an offer some time ago but it’s quite clear that he hasn’t accepted it because we haven’t heard anything from his agent,” Laporta told El Chringuito, adding that the player’s agent Moussa Sissoko isn’t even picking up the phone.
Dembélé fends off Chelsea question
From that, Barcelona deduced that Dembélé must have decided to leave. But in France, the player gave a very different account when quizzed on his future. The player was in his car, stopped at traffic lights, when a member of the public asked asked him: “Are you staying at Barça?” to which Dembélé replied, “Yes”. He was then asked if he would play for Chelsea, and replied, “I’m fine in Barcelona”.
Barcelona are still waiting for Moussa Sissoko to clarify the situation. Dembélé has been chopping and changing his mind for over a year - sending out mixed messages and different signals since he entered the final year of his contract. Now he says he is staying and yet there has been no response to Barcelona’s last offer to renew. Xavi has always defended him, believes in his talent and has tried not to let the situation escalate for the benefit of the rest of the squad. At one point, there looked like there might still be a chance to strike a deal but Laporta made it clear a few days ago that time has run out. We will have to wait and see what happens next. In the meantime, rumours placing Dembélé in England next season grow stronger by the day.