Dembele close to agreeing to Barcelona extension

The questions surrounding the future of Ousmane Dembele could soon be answered as he reportedly close to agreeing on a deal with Barcelona.

According to Diario Sport, an agreement between the two sides is imminent. The supposed deal would see him tied to the Catalan club until 2024.

If and when the deal is made official, manager Xavi Hernandez will once again be able to count on LaLiga’s leader in assists last season. Xavi has been critical in the Frenchman’s potential return as he’s made it known he considers him an important part of his project.

At the beginning of the year, all signs pointed to an exit as the club and player were far apart in terms of wages. Not to mention the commissions his representative was demanding. The season came and went with no signs of a deal.

Dembele tested the market but found few takers. Chelsea were the other side heavily linked with him but they too balked at the terms they were requesting. Finding no other serious offers, he more or less is forced to accept the one from Barcelona.

Throughout this ordeal, Dembele has expressed his desire to remain at Barcelona. Many rolled their eyes and wondered why he didn’t express that to his agent so a deal could get done.

One important thing to remember is because the final day of his previous contract was June 30, his signing would count as a new player and they would need to register him. Ordinarily, that would be no problem but Barcelona are not in an ordinary situation. Keeping in line with the wage limit and being able to register players is one of the reasons why they could not keep Lionel Messi.

Another stumbling block might be the strained relationship with Mateu Alemay. Given some of his comments about this situation, if it were up to him, he would have cut ties at the end of the season.

Barcelona called the bluff of Dembele’s agent and they are going to come out on the winning side so to speak. In any case, this looks like a best case scenario for both Xavi and the player.