Barcelona making good progress in renewal talks with Xavi-favourite forward

Barcelona and Ousmane Dembele are making positive progress as far as talks over a contract renewal for the 26-year-old winger are concerned, reports Gabriel Sans of Mundo Deportivo.

Dembele signed a new contract with Barça last year which expires in 2024 and has a release clause whose value has dropped to just €50 million this summer.

That, however, is not a concern for the Blaugrana as they are absolutely convinced that the Frenchman does not entertain the thought of leaving the club at this point in time. Dembele has expressed the same in the locker room and to the manager Xavi Hernandez.

Barcelona had already sent a renewal proposal until 2027 in mid-May which the winger and his agent, Moussa Sissoko, have been studying and suggesting tweaks.

As such, an agreement is not very close as has been suggested by some media outlets. But talks are headed in the right direction as the two parties outline the contract and work towards reaching an agreement in the coming weeks.

Talking about Dembele and his contract situation recently, Xavi had said: “Ousmane is loved in the dressing room, very honest, he jokes all the time. He’s important to me. He can generate chances. Dembele is happy here and wants to stay. He’s always been clear with me on that.”

Ideally, Barcelona would have wanted the situation resolved before Dembele joined the French national team camp for their upcoming UEFA Euro 2024 qualifiers against Gibraltar and Greece.

But, such a timeline seems unrealistic at this point. However, the general predisposition is that Dembele wishes to stay at Barcelona for a long time and the contract renewal talks will yield a positive result sooner rather than later.