Dembélé sentenced by Barcelona: “I should leave as soon as possible”

Barcelona’s director of football, Mateu Alemany, defended coach Xavi Hernández’s decision not to summon Ousmane Dembélé for Thursday’s match against Athletic Club by stating that the French player “has decided not to continue” in the club and, therefore, urged him to “get out as soon as possible”.

The Barça first team traveled this Thursday to the city of Bilbao to play the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey with the main absence of Dembélé, who stayed in Barcelona due to the problems the club is having to close its renewal.

The intention of the entity is to renew the world champion, whose contract ends in June of this year, but his signing has not yet taken place, so since last January 1 he is free to close an agreement with any other team .

Faced with this situation, Mateu Alemany appeared this Thursday before the club’s media to give his version of the events and defend the decision not to summon the French footballer.

“The reality with Ousmane (Dembélé) is that it has been six months since we started negotiations with his representative. During this time we have had ongoing communication with them regarding the club’s willingness to continue. Different offers have been made to him, we have been very much on top of this issue, it has been more than enough time for the player to have decided his future “, German recalled.

Thus, in the words of the executive, Barcelona understands that “The player has already decided not to continue”, a fact that has triggered the Frenchman’s non-call to play the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey against Athletic.

“We want players committed to the future of Barça and, therefore, he should leave as soon as possible. This is the communication that we have made to him and, from here, the coach’s technical decision is consistent with the club’s decision and with this sequence of events”, he asserted.

In this sense, Alemany pointed out that the fact that he does not play in San Mamés “it is the logical consequence of a negotiation situation that has ended the player’s will not to continue” at Barca.