Barcelona president Joan Laporta confirms club are set to schedule meeting with Ousmane Dembele’s representatives over new deal… with France winger having taken No 7 shirt after Antoine Griezmann’s departure
- Ousmane Dembele has less than 12 months left on his current Barcelona deal
- He has been handed the No 7 shirt after Antoine Griezmann re-joined Atletico
- But Joan Laporta insists a meeting with agents over new deal is being finalised
- Dembele has yet to play this season as he continues recovery from knee injury
Barcelona president Joan Laporta has confirmed the club are set to schedule a meeting with the representatives of Ousmane Dembele in order to discuss a new deal for the Frenchman.
The 24-year-old has entered the final year of his contract with the Catalan giants, and having not yet committed to fresh terms, would be able to sign a pre-contract with a foreign club in January.
The France international – who reportedly earns £210,000 per week at Barcelona – has recently been handed the No 7 shirt at the club after compatriot and close friend Antoine Griezmann re-joined Atletico Madrid on loan.
Joan Laporta has confirmed Barcelona are set to discuss a new contract for Ousmane Dembele
The 24-year-old France international has recently been handed the No 7 shirt at the club
But Laporta has now insisted the club are going one step further to convince him to stay, with director of football Mateu Alemany in the process of finalising a meeting with his agents over fresh terms and carry on their ‘very good relationship’.
‘Mateu [Alemany] told me that a meeting with his representative is being organised,’ Laporta said in comments carried by Diario Sport.
‘The relationship with Ousmane is very good, he feels loved and we want him to continue.
‘He’s told me that he really wants to return to the pitch and wear the Barcelona shirt. With the help of everyone we’re going to ensure that this player, who has great quality, gets back playing and playing often, ensure that the bad moments don’t happen again.
He has been handed the shirt after compatriot Antoine Griezmann (L) re-joined Atletico Madrid
But Laporta says director of football Mateu Alemany (above) is about to finalise a meeting with Dembele’s representatives
‘The club has a plan to make sure that Ousmane can show his talent and his quality.’
Dembele has yet to figure for Barcelona this season as he continues his recovery from a knee injury he suffered while playing for France against Hungary at Euro 2020 in the summer.
The same Spanish outlet however claims the former Borussia Dortmund star – who joined the Catalan giants in a £124million deal four years ago – is still expected to be out for another two months with the issue.
He scored six goals and laid on three assists in 30 LaLiga appearances under Ronald Koeman last season as he began to show signs of a player who has struggled to impose himself at Camp Nou since 2017.
Dembele has yet to play this season after suffering a knee injury with France at Euro 2020
In all competitions, those statistics read 11 goals and five assists in 44 appearances.
However, injuries have become all too regular for Dembele as he has missed as many as 86 games for Barcelona through injury since joining the club in 2017.
With Dembele’s contract up at the end of the season, Barcelona had explored a possible sale with reports in Spain crediting Manchester United with interest back in March.
But now Laporta appears to have confirmed Barcelona now intend to keep the Frenchman after a dramatic U-turn in the summer.
He scored six goals and laid on three assists in 30 LaLiga appearances under Ronald Koeman (L) last season
