Ousmane Dembele willing to take pay cut to stay at Barcelona
Karan Tejwani
- 28 Apr 2022 09:38 BST
- 3 min read
The last few weeks have been difficult for Barcelona – starting with the defeat against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League, and then adding to it with two La Liga defeats that has hampered their grip on second place.
In the midst of all that has been Ousmane Dembele’s contract talks, which are still ongoing as the club wish to keep the Frenchman beyond this summer, when he’s free to leave the Blaugrana.
Coach Xavi has been keen to keep Dembele at the club and has made the winger a key part of his plans since returning to the club as head coach.
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How much progress has been made in talks?
The added encouragement has made Dembele better, and he’s producing arguably his best football since joining the club in 2017, providing 11 assists in La Liga – the joint-most in the league.
Recent times have seen some positive talks between the club and Dembele’s entourage – led by agent Moussa Sissoko – and there have been meetings to resolve the issue that has dragged on for a few months.
Barcelona’s Director of Football, Matheu Alemany, previously had meetings with Sissoko in Morocco and talks continued earlier this week when Sissoko visited Barcelona to continue discussions.
According to Sport, there have been positive talks between the two parties, however, demands still haven’t been met and that is prolonging the issue.
New meeting today between Dembélé's agent and Barcelona. 🇫🇷 #FCB
Ousmane knows that staying at Barça could mean losing money, as he already received better proposals.
But Dembélé has not decided yet, he's happy with Xavi - Barça will try to find a solution to improve their bid. pic.twitter.com/rcK7b48ZSd— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) April 27, 2022
Dembele himself has shown a willingness to take a salary cut in order to stay at the club, and that is a testament to the player’s improved desire in recent months.
The 24-year-old joined the club in 2017 for a club-record fee of €105 million plus a reported €40 million in add-ons, and prior to this season, his time at the club was largely troubled with injury issues.
In that time, he has won two league titles and two Spanish Cups, while scoring 32 goals in 146 appearances.
