Barcelona are reportedly set to open talks with Ousmane Dembele over extending his contract with the club beyond the end of the season. As it stands, the France international will become a free agent in the summer, with Chelsea one of the clubs keeping an eye on the situation.
According to the Daily Mail, Barcelona have contacted Dembele's agent in recent days over extending his stay at the Nou Camp following his recent performances. The former Borussia Dortmund winger has rediscovered his form over recent games after being strongly linked with an exit from the club over the January transfer window.
Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea have 'maintained contact' over a move for Dembele, the report adds, but it now looks as if Barca want to offer the Frenchman fresh terms on a new deal. Barca president Joan Laporta, when speaking on Tuesday, offered an update on Dembele and his situation with the La Liga club.
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Laporta said: "I really like Dembele, he is amazing - we made him a proposal which expired on December 20, then if he wants to stay, he has to accept our salary limits. We never know what happens with Dembele and his agent."
It's a dramatic turn of events for Dembele, with Barca saying in January that the winger would definitely be sold before the end of the mid-season transfer window. Barca's director of football, Mateu Alemany, said: "With Ousmane and with his agents we began conversations in the month of July, during all this time, it has been six months, almost seven months, we have talked, we have spoken, Barca has made different offers, we have tried to find a way for him to continue with us.
"Those offers have been systematically rejected by their agents. And today, January 20, 11 days before the end of the last term within his contract, it is evident, it seems obvious to us, that the player does not want to continue at Barcelona and therefore is not committed to Barca's future project.
"In this scenario, he and his agents have been told that he must leave immediately because we want players committed to this project, and therefore we expect a transfer before January 31. The club obviously is not the one that should determine this, it is the coach who has determined it, but he has our support and we think it is a totally coherent attitude."
