Barcelona's chances of completing forward deal a 'lost cause'

Barcelona are facing a losing battle in their fight to keep Ousmane Dembele at the club beyond next summer. The Frenchman has been labelled a "lost cause" as he is yet to respond to the Catalan club's latest offer to remain at the club beyond his current contract that expires in June 2022.

Dembele has made just a handful of appearances for Barcelona this season after suffering a knee injury during this summer's European Championship. The Frenchman's comeback was curtailed by a minor knock, but he is now back in contention and has played in the club's recent games in La Liga and Champions League.

The 24-year-old winger, who arrived from Borussia Dortmund in 2017, has failed to recapture his form that earned him a €105 million move that also included around €40 million in add-ons from the German Bundesliga club. Injuries have played a major role in curtailing his impact in recent seasons, but Barcelona were hoping to keep him at the club and have no intention of losing him on a free transfer next summer.

According to Spanish media outlet Sport, Dembele is unlikely to extend his stay at Camp Nou beyond next summer after his representatives failed to respond to the club's offer despite being in talks for a number of weeks. The France international has offers from clubs abroad, with the deals said to be much more lucrative than the one offered by Barcelona.

Xavi Hernandez has been clear that he wants Dembele to remain with Barcelona, while club president Joan Laporta also believes the speedy winger can become a franchise player if he sticks around and reaches his full potential. However, at the moment it looks like Barcelona's investment in the Frenchman could suffer a massive hit if he leaves the club on a free transfer.

The likes of Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea, Newcastle United, Bayern Munich and Juventus are all monitoring the situation and are likely to open talks with Dembele when the January transfer window opens. The Barcelona forward will be allowed to sign a pre-contract agreement in January before leaving the La Liga outfit when his contract expires next June.