Official: Dembélé to stay at Camp Nou through to 2024

Via a brief social media video which sees the French striker erasing 2022 from a blackboard and writing 2024, the new end date of his contract, Ousmane Dembélé and Barça announced the player’s renewal on Thursday. The contract thus ends weeks of speculation after the player was a free agent with his previous deal having expired on 30 June.

Dembélé extends his relationship with the club amid speculation that his new deal will see the player lowering his salary by 40% with other reports suggest that incentive related bonuses could see the player recoup the income drop.

Xavi admiration

After all the polemic created during the winter months when it appeared that the winger had played his final games for the Catalan club, Xavi Hernandez has always showed his admiration for the player and recently stated: “Well managed, he can be the best player in the world in his position”. Since the player reluctantly agreed to stay with the LaLiga club, his statistics in the latter part of the 2021-22 season proved how he became the best provider of assists in the Spanish top flight despite a series if injuries and an apparent lack of maturity blighting his time with the Catalan club.

Dembélé now has a fantastic challenge ahead for the 2022-23 season where he hopes to do the business on the pitch and catch the eye of French manager Didier Deschamps with the 2022 World Cup in Qatar coming up in November.