France and Barcelona winger Ousmane Dembele has finally signed a new contract with the Spanish side, which will keep him at the club for another two years.
The winger whose contract expired last month was heavily linked with a move to Chelsea this summer. But the Spanish La Liga giants have now confirmed that Ousmane Dembele has agreed to a new contract that will keep him with them until 2024.
Ousmane Dembele joined Barcelona from Borussia Dortmund for a huge £135.5million transfer back in 2017 but has struggled to live up to the expectations of many because of a lot of injuries that limited his game time. This made him one of the worst signings in the history of football.
The Frenchman has always wanted a new contract with Barcelona but Chelsea reached out to the club for an opportunity to sign him.
French Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain and German Bundesliga champions FC Bayern Munich were also interested in the 2018 World Cup winner but Chelsea came closer to signing him.
Barcelona head coach Xavi Hernandez was also not ready to release the winger this summer even though his former contract expired before he could agree on a new deal.
The new contract renewal is coming after Barcelona completed the signing of Leeds United winger Raphinha this week. Raphinha who had an amazing season with Leeds United and helped them to escape relegation attracted a lot of interest from big clubs. Teams like Chelsea, Arsenal, and Tottenham Hotspur were all fighting to sign the Brazilian winger but he decided to join Barça.
All smiles from @dembouz & @JoanLaportaFCB😁 pic.twitter.com/UYrgKkpuCp
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) July 14, 2022
Speaking about Dembele’s future back in May, Xavi said: “Negotiations are ongoing and we are going to be optimistic.
“I hope he can stay – he has helped us a lot during the last six months. Xavi Hernandez went further to describe Ousmane Dembele as a decisive player with lots of assists and has been excellent in many games. He admitted that the squad has always missed Dembele whenever he doesn’t play for them because of injury.
Dembele has experienced several injuries throughout his five years in Spain and would hope to remain fit in his second stint at FC Barcelona.
Despite his inconsistency, the former Dortmund star has made 150 appearances in all competitions and has scored a total of 32 goals and 34 assists. Barcelona will now be hopeful that Dembele’s decision to stay can help them advance in the upcoming season.
In the 2021–2022 season, Xavi’s team finished second in La Liga, 13 points behind arch-rival Real Madrid, which also took home the Champions League title.
Xavi Hernandez is still hopeful of adding Robert Lewandowski and Bernardo Silva to his team this summer. Both players have shown interest in joining the Spanish giants but Barcelona’s financial issue is acting as an obstacle.
Although the club has submitted multiple offers for Robert Lewandowski, Bayern Munich are yet to accept any of them.
Ousmane Dembele new contract details
According to reports in Spain, the 25-year-old France international has taken a huge reduction from his former salary to sign for Barcelona again. Ousmane Dembele who earned a gross base salary of €12 million per year when he joined Barça from Borussia Dortmund in 2017 will now go home with a net salary of €11 million.
Dembele’s new contract will keep him at the club for two more years without an option to extend the contract.
The Frenchman had his best season in terms of assists during the 2021/22 campaign at FC Barcelona. He provided 13 assists in 21 games despite his struggle with fitness issues.
