Barcelona warned over making threats to force forward's new deal

Barcelona's contract saga with Ousmane Dembele has now been made public with the winger's agent Moussa Sissoko making it clear to the Catalan club that his client will not bow down to their threats. At the moment, it looks like the Frenchman will leave the La Liga club when his contract expires in June.

Xavi Hernandez remains keen to keep Dembele at the Camp Nou beyond the summer of 2022, and reports indicated that the former Borussia Dortmund forward had expressed his desire to renew. But despite being in conversation for a number of months, the club could not make a breakthrough in terms of reaching an agreement.

Barcelona's director of football Matheu Alemany recently revealed that the club is waiting for Dembele's response to the offer on the table. The club was not willing to set any further meetings until they received a response from the France international and his representatives, and made it clear that they wanted one sooner rather than later.

The La Liga giants do not want to lose Dembele on a free transfer after spending over £100 million to sign him from Dortmund in 2017. Barcelona could look to offload him this month, but are also pondering banishing him to the stands for the next six months if he fails to comply and sign the deal that is on the table. the threats have irked his agent, who put the blame on the club for not conducting themselves properly.

"We don't know what will happen, there's nothing agreed or signed, but the directors are losing Ousmane themselves," Sissoko said, as quoted by Sport. "From the start we've been willing to talk, with conditions, sure, but without shutting the door."

"They can't threaten Dembele that he will go six months without playing if he doesn't renew now. It's a type of pressure that doesn't work with people like us. Maybe with other agents, but not me. I'm defending the player's interests."

Sissoko admitted that they could look at legal options if Barcelona continue to threaten Dembele with six months in the stands. He even reiterated that his client was not making demands beyond the club's means in light of reports claiming that Dembele is seeking higher wages following the arrival of Ferran Torres.