"Dembélé knows our offer and knows that we always wanted him to stay. We hope he will think about it again at the end of the season", wished Laporta within the framework of a conference on the future of FC Barcelona.
"In football, you can never rule anything out. Look: he couldn't play, and now he plays, and he plays well. But his contract extension doesn't depend on me, it's a question for the club or for the player", reacted Xavi on Sunday evening after the brilliant 4-0 victory against Athletic Bilbao at the Camp Nou in La Liga.
A match during which Dembélé scored a goal and delivered two assists in just 25 minutes of play, and transformed the whistles he received when he entered the game (in the 67th in place of Ferran Torres) into rounds of applause.
"He's a great professional. Let us encourage him," summoned Xavi, Sunday evening at a post-match press conference.
"Dembouz", whose contract with the Catalan club expires on June 30, was summoned on January 19 by Xavi and the leaders of Barça to "extend" his contract, to prevent him from leaving without the club touching. transfer fee, or "leaving the club".
Xavi had even decided to remove him from the group pending his decision.
But since then the situation has changed.
Despite the attacking reinforcements recorded by Barcelona during the winter transfer window (Adama Traoré, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Ferran Torres), Xavi decided to give Dembélé a chance.
“Circumstances meant that we had to find a solution with Ousmane. He is part of the club and the squad. We met and we decided that he was part of the team. can't afford to shoot himself in the foot. It's a decision of the club and we'll use him when we think it's necessary. He's a player in the team like any other." Xavi on February 5.
© 2022 AFP