Barcelona manager Xavi reveals Ousmane Dembele wants to leave for PSG

The Franch star looks set to join the Ligue 1 champions

Ousmane Dembele arrived at the Camp Nou from Borussia Dortmund during the summer of 2017. On his arrival, he was touted as an immensely talented footballer, was given an immense billing and was expected to have a bright future with the Blaugranas.

Cut to six years later, Dembele’s stint at Barcelona has been trying at best. His stay has been marked by inconsistent performances, reduced playing time and injuries. On top of that, Dembele wasn’t winning any popularity contests with the Barcelona fans either.

All that looked to change when Club legend Xavi Hernandez took over as Barcelona manager. Xavi revealed himself to be a huge admirer of Dembele’s talent, he believed that with the right approach, Dembele could become a world beater, Xavi himself worked hard to change his perception amongst fans. After all this, Xavi’s disappointment was understandable when Dembele himself revealed that he wanted to leave the Camp Nou for Ligue 1 champions PSG.

It is currently being reported that Dembele himself had agreed personal terms with PSG much earlier, and what remained was negotiating a transfer fee with Barca.

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Barcelona, who are still in a very precarious position as far as money is concerned, could have seen the silver lining in the fact that PSG formally communicated their interest in the winger after his €50m release clause was set to expire, allowing them to negotiate a higher transfer fee, However, a private clause in Dembele’s contract allows the Parisians five extra days to   acquire him with just €50m .

Xavi himself tried desperately to convince Dembele to stay at The Camp Nou. He cited Neymar’s struggles after leaving Barcelona, as his big money move to the Parc De Princes has not gone to plan, and how he regrets leaving The Camp Nou. Dembele however, is all set to move and has informed Xavi that nothing can convince him to stay.

Ousmane Dembele was completely benched for Barca’s last preseason game against AC Milan. When asked about the whole situation after the game, Xavi said:

“He [Dembele} told us he wanted to leave, that he had a proposal from PSG. He told us that he had spoken with Luis Enrique and Nasser Al-Khelaïfi and that there was no way to convince him (to stay at Barca).”

He further expressed his disappointment with the whole ordeal by saying. –

“To me, it hurts me because I think we have taken great care of him here so that he is happy and content and continues to make a difference for us.

“But he says that he has this proposal and that he has decided to leave. That is why he has not played today.”

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