The Barcelona Director of Football, Mateu Alemany, has told Ousmane Dembele that he must leave before the end of January.
Barcelona FC said this after the French international made it clear that he does not want to stay on again at the club.
Alemany said on Thursday: “With Ousmane and his agent we began conversations around July so it’s been six months and a bit.
“We’ve talked, we’ve talked, we’ve talked. Barca has made different offers.
“We’ve tried to find a way for the player to continue with us but these offers have been systematically rejected by his agents and today, January 20, eleven days before the last period of his contract ends, it seems obvious to us that the player does not want to continue at Barcelona and he is not committed to Barca’s future project.
“In this scenario he and his agents have been informed that he must leave immediately because we want players committed to this project and therefore we hope that a transfer will take place before January 31.”
Dembele joined from Borussia Dortmund in 2017 in a deal worth 140 million euros ($158.9 million) and will be able to leave for free when his contract expires in the summer.
Barca have been desperate to avoid that happening and with debts of over a billion euros, could at least pocket a fee for the 24-year-old if he is sold in the current transfer window.
