Xavi will still use €140 million misfit ‘if he sees it necessary’ – report

The January transfer window came and went, but the Ousmane Dembele saga continues to dominate the headlines.

The Barcelona winger has refused to sign an extension on his current contract which runs out in the summer. The Catalans have no desire to utilise him again on the field and tried hard to get rid of him in the January transfer window.

Despite strong interest from the likes of Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea, a move never materialised, meaning Dembele has stayed put at Camp Nou. However, Barcelona are seriously considering terminating his contract at this point.

However, it would be a difficult move to pull off, leading to the possibility that the ex-Borussia Dortmund winger would likely end up remaining at Barça for the remainder of the campaign.

While the club hierarchy is against seeing him as part of the team should that happen, manager Xavi Hernandez sees things differently. According to Manu Carreno on El Larguero, the 42-year-old Barcelona head coach does not want to banish the forward to the stands.

Instead, Xavi wants to continue treating him as a regular member of the squad and count on him for the remainder of the campaign if he sees it fit. As per the update, neither president Joan Laporta nor director Mateu Alemany will dictate how many minutes Dembele gets and it will be up to the manager only.

It is a difficult situation for the Blaugrana. While the squad has been strengthened in attack with the signings of Ferran Torres and Adama Traore, while the emergence of Ez Abde and Ferran Jutgla has ensured that there is depth in the ranks even with Ansu Fati’s injury.

However, considering that the top-four race is so close and Barça are gunning for Europa League glory, utilising all tools at the manager’s disposal makes sense. And given the successful partnership that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Dembele had forged, the Catalans have a chance of recreating it.

It remains to be seen how this saga unfolds in the coming hours, but it does seem like the Frenchman could end up staying put at Camp Nou.