Xavi Hernandez believes Ousmane Dembele is ‘happy’ at Barcelona despite the speculation regarding his future and transfer interest from Newcastle, via quotes by TuttoMercatoWEB.
Dembele is out of contract at the end of the season, after failing to agree an extension with the Blaugrana. The winger’s refusal to lower his demands put his future at the Camp Nou in doubt in January. Sport also reported Barca were ‘absolutely outraged’ he refused to leave.
Premier League sides remain attentive to his situation and Sport note Dembele’s agents are speaking with Chelsea and Manchester United. The Blues are ready to go all-out to sign the winger in a free transfer, after offering Barcelona €10m (£8.5m) late in the winter market.
Dembele’s camp hope to resolve his future as soon as possible to secure a high wage and a worthy project. He wants to be the absolute protagonist with his next club, while Barcelona do not plan to re-open negotiations. Instead, they will want to see if his agents revive talks.
Newcastle have made Dembele ‘big’ pre-contract offer for free transfer
Newcastle are also in the mix to seal Dembele’s free transfer and have made the Barcelona forward a pre-contract offer. Express reporter Ryan Taylor recently told Give Me Sport that the Magpies presented the 2018 World Cup winner’s agents with ‘quite a big’ salary offer.
Dembele has demanded a vastly lucrative wage to extend his stay with the Blaugrana into a sixth season. Foot Mercato claimed in December the £97m star wants €40m-a-year (£641k-a/w) net. He also wanted the Camp Nou outfit to pay him a €40m (£33m) signing-on bonus.
Xavi claims Dembele ‘happy’ at Barcelona
Newcastle target Dembele has put all the transfer and contractual speculation at Barcelona behind him so far this month. He has re-entered Xavi’s plans and provided an assist as the Blaugrana beat Valencia 4-1 on Sunday. It was his third of the season so far after 14 games.
Xavi has no issue playing Dembele as he has shown he is focused in training. The Camp Nou boss also praised his character ahead of facing Napoli in the Europa League.
“I see him happy and acting like a professional,” Xavi said. “I have heard of all colours, I can say that he trained to the maximum, even when he wasn’t called up.
“If he wasn’t a professional, I wouldn’t let him play. Instead, he gives something positive to the group. And he will give a lot from now to the end of the season.”
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