Ousmane Dembélé “must leave as soon as possible” from Barça: what will happen now?

He will no longer play in the Barça jersey. Exasperated by Ousmane Dembélé’s hesitation to extend his contract, which ends on June 30, the management of Blaugranas decided on the spot: “Dembouz” must leave “at once”. In a punchy 90-second video posted on its Twitter account on Thursday, January 20, the Catalan club ordered the French international to pack up before the end of the winter transfer window. “We told him and his agents that he had to leave immediately”, asserted sports director Mateu Alemany, weary of the incessant procrastination of the Dembélé clan.

“With Ousmane and his agents, we started discussions around July. During these six, seven months, we discussed. Barça made several offers for the player to stay with us. These offers were systematically rejected by its officers”, said the leader abutment. “It seems obvious to us that the player does not want to continue at Barcelona and get involved in Barca’s future project (…) We hope to transfer it before January 31.” he added, acknowledging the failure of the negotiations.

Already the day before, Xavi, the Barça coach, had issued an ultimatum to the former Rennais. “Either he extends, or he leaves”, he said, refusing to say if he was ready to do without the Frenchman for the rest of the season. The night, it seems, gave him advice. As expected, the ex-captain blaugrana chose not to call up “Dembouz” for the King’s Cup round of 16 against Athletic Bilbao on Thursday (9:30 p.m.) in San Mamés. “He has our full support”, reacted Mateu Alemany. “The coach’s decision is consistent with the position of the club and the course of events. The fact that (Ousmane Dembele) not to be called up is the logical consequence which made clear the player’s desire not to continue.”

What will happen to Ousmane Dembélé now? He does not intend to let it go. “I forbid anyone to pretend that I am not involved in the sports project. I forbid anyone to lend me intentions that I never had. I forbid anyone to speak in my place, to the place of my agent in whom I have complete confidence”, he replied on Instagram, recalling that he is “still under contract” and “fully concerned and at the disposal of my club.” I am not a man who cheats and even less a man who has a habit of giving in to blackmail”, added the number 7 of Barça.

One “blackmail” already denounced by his adviser Moussa Sissoko, Tuesday January 18, on RMC Sport, who mentioned a “Pressure that doesn’t work with people like us”. The influential agent blamed the Barcelona leaders who “threatened not to play anymore” his player. “It is forbidden. We will assert the rights of Ousmane Dembélé if necessary”, he warned. However, if he does not leave Catalonia by January 31, the former Borussia Dortmund player, recruited at a golden price (135 million euros in the summer of 2017), could well spend the next six months in the closet. Without being able to do anything about it.

Spanish legislation ‘protects’ Barca. Nothing prevents the Blaugranas from not playing Dembélé until the end of the season and placing him in the “coach’s choice” box, day after day. The current 6th in La Liga will not default if he allows him, as recalled by the Spanish players’ union (AFE), Thursday, in a statement, “to work under the same conditions as his teammates, without any form of discrimination or pressure”. For this, it is enough for the Catalan management to give him free access to the facilities and to authorize him to train with the first team.

To avoid being banned for six months, a situation experienced by Adrien Rabiot at PSG in 2019, a departure by January 31 seems to be the most “healthy” solution for Ousmane Dembélé. It would be a compromise that could satisfy all parties. For the player, who could certainly be tempted to wait to leave for free elsewhere and pocket a big signing bonus, it would be the guarantee of not “losing” half a season. Especially since his situation will be followed carefully by the coach of the France team Didier Deschamps, less than ten months from the World Cup in Qatar.

Barça would also have more to gain than to lose. Weighed down by a debt of more than a billion euros, the Catalan club would make sure to recover a few tens of millions of euros with a transfer, instead of seeing “Dembouz” leave without compensation next summer. He would also save part of the 12 million euros per year in salary he pays the player. Nevertheless, a departure from the Frenchman before January 31 is all but guaranteed. Clubs interested in the French international could welcome playing the clock and waiting for the end of his contract to save the cost of a transfer and only have to pay a premium to the signature. This is a file that has not finished agitating the winter transfer window until its closure.