 |
| Ousmane Dembele of FC Barcelona competes with Isaias Sanchez of the All Stars during the match between FC Barcelona and the A-League All Stars at Accor Stadium on May 25, 2022 in Sydney, Australia. |
Ousmane Dembele is reportedly on the verge of ending
speculation surrounding his future by signing a two-year contract with
Barcelona.
According to a report by Spanish publication SPORT, Barcelona and Ousmane Dembele have finally reached an
agreement over a new contract. The 25-year-old will commit the next two years
of his career to the Blaugrana, who will soon officiate the renewal.
Ousmane Dembele has been involved in one of the most
captivating contract renewal sagas in recent memory, one that has lasted the
entire year thus far. The soap opera began when Mateu Alemany announced in
January that the negotiations between Barcelona and Dembele had stalled after
talks stretched for months.
But after Barcelona failed to offload the
25-year-old in the January transfer window, he took no time to establish
himself as a pivotal figure for the Blaugrana in the second half of
the 2021/22 season.
Dembele was so influential that he helped Barcelona finish
second in La Liga while ending the campaign with more assists than any other player in the Spanish top-flight (13),
despite playing only 21 games.
But despite his heroics, the speculation surrounding
his long-term future has continued to grow like wildfire. That gave some of the
most high-profile clubs across Europe, including Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain,
Bayern Munich and others, hope that they could secure the services of the
French international in a Bosman move.
All his suitors were ready to offer him lucrative
terms to prise him away from Barcelona as a free agent in the summer transfer
window. But at the same time, Dembele has been steadfast in his stance,
asserting his primary focus was on remaining at Camp Nou, even for lower wages
than those proposed by the interested parties.
That gave Barcelona hope that they could keep hold of Dembele beyond the summer transfer
window. And even though the 2018 FIFA World Cup winner officially
became a free agent last week, he has continued his discussions with Barcelona
over a new two-year contract.
News has continued to filter this week, and Dembele
has now committed his future to Barcelona. The 25-year-old will pen a
new two-year deal, with Barcelona likely to officiate the renewal soon.
Widespread reports have also suggested that Dembele could take a 40 per cent
pay cut on his previous wages, which is why a short contract makes sense for
him. Thus, a long-winding saga will soon end with the official announcement.
Share this content:
