BarcelonaThe noise related to the contractual situation of Ousmane Dembélé is marking the hours before the Athletic-Barça Copa del Rey, a one-off tie in which Xavi Hernández’s team is playing to reissue a title. The French winger has been ruled out of the match in San Mamés after having exhausted the Barça club’s ultimatum, with which he has been negotiating an extension for six months. As there was no answer in any way and the footballer’s agent, Moussa Sissoko, pulled the rope so hard that it ended up breaking, Xavi positioned himself with the football director, Mateu Alemany, and chose to give up your best player to provoke either to renew in the conditions raised or to agree to leave transferred already.
Right now, the second solution is the one that keeps the sports management busier. There are currently talks with two Premier League teams to promote a short-term absence, which would allow to obtain fair play financial to make more signings. Manchester United and Newcastle could make the effort before the end of the month. And, according to specialist journalist Fabrizio Romano, Tuchel’s Chelsea have also been put on alert to fish at the Camp Nou.
Alemany was categorical minutes before taking the plane to Bilbao: “Not being summoned is the logical consequence of a negotiation that has ended Ousmane’s will not to continue.” In fact, it is the Balearic executive himself who, together with Xavi, has personally conveyed to Dembélé Barça’s position shortly after nine in the morning. Already in the afternoon, the Norman winger, who has stayed at home due to a technical and economic decision, posted a message on Instagram in which he did not consider negotiations to continue at the Camp Nou broken and aligned with his representative, who in the last meeting with the entity asked for exorbitant conditions to follow.
“It is over. From today I will respond sincerely and without accepting any blackmail […] I forbid you to think that I am not committed to the project. I have a contract, I am involved and totally available to my coach […] I am not a man who gives in to blackmail. Surely blackmail is a variant of love […] Negotiations are underway and my representative is in charge. My field is the ball “, wrote the Barça player, who was never referring directly to the club that pays him his salary.
Barça sources tell ARA that the views are very strong and that Dembélé will not wear the Barça shirt again if he does not reconsider his position on renewal. Meanwhile, the player’s side insists they want to negotiate without pressure and refuse to look for a way out of the winter market. In this context, the Association of Spanish Footballers (AFE) has sent a statement to warn Barça. “It is true that a footballer does not have the right to be lined up and to be called up for all matches, but if this circumstance can be understood as a pressure to bend his will [perquè signi la renovació] and in addition, public statements are made in which this type of pressure is admitted, we would be facing an illegal action by the company “.
In this sense, the nuance of Alemany is important in the message he has conveyed to justify Dembélé’s non-call-up: “We want committed players and the technical decision is consistent with the club’s position.” That is, the emphasis on Xavi’s criteria. On the other hand, to avoid possible legal consequences, it is not expected that Barça will take the player away from everyday life. He will continue to train as Yusuf Demir did, who disappeared from the technical plans not because he was not useful, but because the club wanted to avoid paying 10 million to the Vienna Rapid.
In any case, the Dembélé series will continue in the coming days and will have to be resolved before January 31st. The left hand and the praise of Xavi and Laporta have passed to a better life. He now has the point of view of Mateu Alemany, a technocrat in a streak after the signing of Ferran Torres and the subsequent registration thanks to the departure of Coutinho and the surprising renewal of Umtiti. The immediate future of the Mosquit and the margin to continue doing the sporting duties that last summer were halved will depend on its sense of smell and its agenda, as well as the accounting criteria of CEO Ferran Reverter.
