Barcelona pessimistic about French forward’s renewal, negotiations have stalled

With less than two months left on Ousmane Dembele’s contract, an agreement is yet to be reached between the player and the club.

The Catalans had completely given up on their efforts to renew his deal in December after he turned down the club’s offer. And the relationship had completely broken down after he refused to leave when Barça tried to offload him in January.

But, Xavi Hernandez has put his faith in the Frenchman since and the winger has delivered some stellar performances over the past few months, showing that he can be a top player for the club.

It led to Barcelona reopening talks over a new deal with his agent, with director Mateu Alemany travelling to Morocco to meet with Dembele’s representative, Moussa Sissoko.

But despite having held a few meetings since, the two parties are no closer to agreeing terms over a contract renewal, reports SPORT.

Dembele, for his part, remains keen on staying put at Camp Nou. However, talks between the club and his representative have once again come to a standstill. It is because of Sissoko’s demands of a signing-on bonus, which the Blaugrana are reluctant to pay.

With his contract set to expire on June 30, there is not much time left for Barcelona to resolve the situation. And the report adds that the Catalan giants are growing pessimistic about their chances of holding on to the 25-year-old even though they have not completely given up hope.

Dembele is attracting interest from several top clubs across Europe, with Bayern Munich the latest club entering the fray. So, it is imperative that the Catalans step up their efforts to agree a contract extension or they will likely end up losing the 2018 FIFA World Cup winner on a free transfer.