Barcelona (dpa) – FC Barcelona is separating from the French soccer professional Ousmane Dembélé with immediate effect.
“It’s obvious that the player doesn’t want to stay at Barcelona and isn’t committed to Barça’s future project,” said the Catalans’ director of football Mateu Alemany in a video published on the club’s website. That’s why Dembélé and his advisors were told “that he has to leave immediately because we want dedicated players and we hope that a transfer will be possible before January 31,” Alemany continued.
Barça have been in talks with the former Dortmund striker and his agent since July 2021. “We made various offers, trying to find a way for the player to continue with us. And these offers were systematically rejected by his agents,” said Alemany.
Xavi: “We have no choice”
Coach Xavi Hernández had warned the day before that Dembélé would have to extend his contract, which expires on June 30th. Otherwise he will no longer play for the Spanish club. “Either he extends it or we solve the case with the player leaving. We have no choice, nothing else,” said the coach before the Catalans’ round of 16 match at Athletic Bilbao on Thursday. Dembélé is no longer available for this game.
Spanish media wrote that Dembélé had repeatedly assured the coach that he wanted to stay at Barça. But his agent Moussa Sissoko did not accept the offer made five months ago because Club Dembélé wanted to pay a significantly lower salary in the future.
Speaking to French radio station “RMC”, Sissoko criticized the club’s behavior: “If Barcelona had wanted to negotiate, they could have tried to sit down and talk to us. But there is no conversation, only threats, not theirs anymore Playing as a team. And that’s forbidden.”
The financially and sportingly stricken club has debts of 1.35 billion euros. Barça are trying to reduce the level of salaries or to comply with the league rules for the total amount of professional salaries through the sale or loan of professionals.
.
ttn-10