Barcelona deliver ultimatum over 24-year-old's new deal; no more meetings

Ousmane Dembele has been given an ultimatum by Barcelona with regards to his future at the club. The Catalan club's director of football Matheu Alemany has confirmed that they will not be holding any further meetings with his representatives unless they get a response over their latest offer of a new deal.

The France international is in the final six months of his contract with Barcelona, and will be allowed to talk to clubs outside Spain about signing a pre-contract agreement to join them on a free transfer in the summer. The La Liga giants are keen to keep him at the Camp Nou beyond the summer of 2022, and have been in talks with his representatives for a number of months.

After initially failing to make a breakthrough, recent reports suggested that they were close to reaching an agreement, with Dembele even hinting at a new deal via a social media post. However, talks seem to have broken down again over the the player's wage demands, with Barcelona asking him to take a pay cut in order to help ease their financial problems.

Alemany confirmed that Barcelona will not be holding any meetings until they get clarity from the player about his plans for the future. There is an offer on the table for Dembele to sign, but it is far from the wages he is demanding, and he is certain Barcelona can afford more after spending €55 million to sign Ferran Torres late last month.

"It's not true there will be another meeting," Alemany said, as quoted on ESPN. "There has been contact with his camp for months. They know the club's position, that we want him to stay."

"There's a renewal offer on the table and that's with them. It can't be put off for much longer, we're waiting for a definitive answer."

Dembele will not be short of suitors should he decide to leave the Camp Nou in the summer. Manchester United, Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Arsenal and Juventus are reportedly ready to offer him an escape route. The interested suitors are also able to pay substantially more than Barcelona are willing to offer at the moment, but the player's desire is to remain at the club if a compromise can be reached.