French star Ousmane Dembele responded to Barcelona manager Matteo Alemani's demand today, Thursday, that he must leave "immediately" before the end of the January transfer period in the interest of both parties, and for the club to receive a fee for his transfer as his contract expires in June.
Dembele joined Barcelona from Borussia Dortmund in 2017, but failed to make a mark with the Spanish club, which paid 105 million euros (119.11 million dollars) for his services, scoring only 31 goals in 129 games.
There are concerns in Barcelona, which has debts of more than 1.35 billion euros, about the possibility of the player leaving for free at the end of the season if he does not renew his contract, and coach Xabi Hernandez said the club is seeking a solution.
Hours after violent statements against him by the Barcelona manager, Dembele said through his official account on Instagram that he would not respond to any kind of "blackmail" from the club.
But he did not say if he would leave the club during the January transfer window.
"It's been 4 years in a row that I've been hearing things about me and I've been calm, but for now it's over," Dembele wrote.
He added, "I warn anyone not to give the impression that I am not part of the sports club project, or to attribute to me intentions that I never had in mind. We are negotiating, and I will leave it to my agent."
The Barcelona manager said the club had already told Dembele "the need to leave immediately".
He told the club's TV channel, "In fact, we started negotiations with his agent 5 months ago. During this period, there was constant contact and the club wanted the player to continue."
"The club made many different offers. We worked hard and put in a lot of effort, we did enough for the player to make the right decision about his future."
"We are now 11 days away from closing the transfer period and we understand that the player decided not to continue, and the club wants only those committed. He must leave as soon as possible for the benefit of both parties."
Dembele was not included in the squad to face Athletic Bilbao in the King's Cup today, and the Spanish Professional Players Association said Barcelona could not punish the France international for not renewing his contract.
The association stresses that "the failure to reach an agreement to renew the employment contract does not mean that there is a violation of the terms of the contract between the two parties, so it cannot have any consequences."